China scrambles to contain virus; US Consulate evacuating

A policeman wearing a face mask takes a tourist's temperature at the Qinhuai scenic zone in Nanjing in eastern China's Jiangsu province, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. The virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, already on lockdown, banned most vehicle use downtown and Hong Kong said it would close schools for two weeks as authorities scrambled Saturday to stop the spread of an illness that is known to have infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41, according to officials. (Chinatopix via AP)

Health surveillance officer use temperature scanner to monitor passengers arriving at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. Hong Kong has declared the outbreak of a new virus an emergency and will close primary and secondary schools for two more weeks after the Lunar New Year holiday. City leader Carrie Lam also announced Saturday that trains and flights from the city of Wuhan would be blocked. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

In this Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a medical worker attends to a patient in the intensive care unit at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. China expanded its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people and rushed to build a prefabricated, 1,000-bed hospital for victims Friday as the outbreak cast a pall over Lunar New Year, the country's biggest, most festive holiday. (Xiong Qi/Xinhua via AP)

In this Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a medical workers transfer a patient out of the intensive care unit at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. China expanded its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people and rushed to build a prefabricated, 1,000-bed hospital for victims Friday as the outbreak cast a pall over Lunar New Year, the country's biggest, most festive holiday. (Xiong Qi/Xinhua via AP)

People wearing face masks walk under a canopy decorated with spinning colored fans for a canceled Lunar New Year temple fair at Longtan Park in Beijing, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. China's most festive holiday began in the shadow of a worrying new virus Saturday as the death toll surpassed 40, an unprecedented lockdown kept 36 million people from traveling and authorities canceled a host of Lunar New Year events. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A man wears a face mask as he rides a nearly empty subway train near the Shanghai Disney Resort, which announced that it will be closed indefinitely from Saturday, in Shanghai, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. China's most festive holiday began in the shadow of a worrying new virus Saturday as the death toll surpassed 40, an unprecedented lockdown that kept people from traveling was expanded to more than 50 million residents and authorities canceled a host of Lunar New Year events. (AP Photo/Fu Ting)

Scooter drivers wear face masks as they wait to cross an intersection in Fuyang in central China's Anhui province, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. China's most festive holiday began in the shadow of a worrying new virus Saturday as the death toll surpassed 40, an unprecedented lockdown kept 36 million people from traveling and authorities canceled a host of Lunar New Year events. (Chinatopix via AP)

Children adjust their face masks as they wait in line at check-in counters at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. Hong Kong has declared the outbreak of a new virus an emergency and will close primary and secondary schools for two more weeks after the Lunar New Year holiday. City leader Carrie Lam also announced Saturday that trains and flights from the city of Wuhan would be blocked. (AP Photo/Yanan Wang)

Passengers wear masks as they walk at the Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. Hong Kong has declared the outbreak of a new virus an emergency and will close primary and secondary schools for two more weeks after the Lunar New Year holiday. City leader Carrie Lam also announced Saturday that trains and flights from the city of Wuhan would be blocked. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

People walk past a checkpoint for temperature checks and mandatory face masks at the Qinhuai scenic zone in Nanjing in eastern China's Jiangsu province, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. The virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, already on lockdown, banned most vehicle use downtown and Hong Kong said it would close schools for two weeks as authorities scrambled Saturday to stop the spread of an illness that is known to have infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41, according to officials. (Chinatopix via AP)

A worker dispenses hand sanitizer to shoppers at the entrance of a supermarket in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. The virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, already on lockdown, banned most vehicle use downtown and Hong Kong said it would close schools for two weeks as authorities scrambled Saturday to stop the spread of an illness that is known to have infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41, according to officials. (Chinatopix via AP)

A shopper wearing goggles, a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. The virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, already on lockdown, banned most vehicle use downtown and Hong Kong said it would close schools for two weeks as authorities scrambled Saturday to stop the spread of an illness that is known to have infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41, according to officials. (Chinatopix via AP)

Shoppers wearing face masks pay for their groceries at a supermarket in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. The virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, already on lockdown, banned most vehicle use downtown and Hong Kong said it would close schools for two weeks as authorities scrambled Saturday to stop the spread of an illness that is known to have infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41, according to officials. (Chinatopix via AP)

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By Ken Moritsugu The Associated Press

January 25, 2020 - 8:02 am

Updated January 25, 2020 - 8:23 pm

BEIJING — China’s leader on Saturday called the accelerating spread of a new virus a grave situation, as cities from the outbreak’s epicenter in central China to Hong Kong scrambled to contain an illness that has infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41.

President Xi Jinping’s remarks, reported by state broadcaster CCTV, came at a meeting of Communist Party leaders convened on Lunar New Year — the country’s biggest holiday whose celebrations have been muted — and underlined the government’s urgent, expanding efforts to control the outbreak.

Travel agencies have been told to halt all group tours, the state-owned English-language China Daily newspaper reported, citing the China Association of Travel Services.

Millions of people traveling during the holiday have fueled the spread of the outbreak nationwide and overseas after it began in the city of Wuhan in central China. The vast majority of the infections and all the deaths have been in mainland China, but fresh cases are popping up.

Australia and Malaysia reported their first cases Saturday — four each —and Japan, its third. France confirmed three cases Friday, the first in Europe, and the U.S. identified its second, a woman in Chicago who had returned from China.

In the heart of the outbreak where 11 million residents are already on lockdown, Wuhan banned most vehicle use, including private cars, in downtown areas starting Sunday, state media reported. Only authorized vehicles would be permitted, the reports said.

The city will assign 6,000 taxis to neighborhoods, under the management of resident committees, to help people get around if they need to, China Daily said.

The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold. It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It can worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal.

US Consulate evacuating

The U.S. Consulate in the epidemic-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight Tuesday.

A notice Sunday from the embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport U.S. citizens on the flight that will proceed directly to San Francisco.

It said that in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals “at greater risk from coronavirus,” a new respiratory disease that has sickened 1,975 people and killed 56, almost all in Wuhan.

Lockdown grows

China cut off trains, planes and other links to Wuhan on Wednesday, as well as public transportation within the city, and has steadily expanded a lockdown to 16 surrounding cities with a combined population of more than 50 million — greater than that of New York, London, Paris and Moscow combined.

China’s biggest holiday, Lunar New Year, unfolded Saturday in the shadow of the virus. Authorities canceled a host of events, and closed major tourist destinations and movie theaters.

Temples locked their doors, Beijing’s Forbidden City and Shanghai Disneyland closed, and people canceled restaurant reservations ahead of the holiday, normally a time of family reunions, sightseeing trips and other festivities in the country of 1.4 billion people.