Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing yesterday in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei Province.
Photo: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday convened a Chinese Communist Party politburo meeting in Beijing, saying the nation is facing a grave situation, while Hong Kong declared the outbreak an “emergency” — the territory’s highest warning tier — as authorities ramped up measures to reduce the risk of further infections from a new coronavirus.

Heavy equipment is in use yesterday at the site where a 1,000-bed field hospital is being built in Wuhan, China, for patients with the 2019 novel coronavirus.
Photo: AP / Chinatopix

Chinese authorities yesterday expanded their mammoth quarantine effort to 13 cities and a staggering 41 million people, as nervous residents were checked for fevers and the death toll from the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) climbed to 26.

A passenger stands after arriving at the nearly deserted train station in Wuhan, China, yesterday.
Photo: AFP

China yesterday locked down two major cities in a province at the center of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, banning airplanes and trains from leaving in an unprecedented move aimed at containing the disease, which has already spread to other countries.