- A nationwide ban on wildlife trade is in place and more than 56 million people in almost 20 cities are affected by travel restrictions, which have been introduced amid fears the transmission rate will balloon as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year celebrations
Chinese authorities have ordered the extension of a public holiday in an effort to contain the coronavirus epidemic.
A working group chaired by Premier Li Keqiang to tackle the outbreak decided “to reduce population flows” by extending the Spring Festival holiday which had been scheduled to end on January 30, state news agency Xinhua said.
It was not immediately clear how long the extension is.
“The meeting stressed that the country is at a crucial time in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, urging Party committees and governments at all levels to take more ‘decisive, powerful and orderly, scientific and well-planned’ measures to effective curb the spread,” Xinhua reported.
China is ramping up containment measures as the spread of a new coronavirus that has killed 56 people and infected at least 1,975 more in the country accelerates.
The virus thought to have originated in a Wuhan food market continues to spread as China steps up containment efforts.
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