Unconfirmed reports are emerging that another city, Chibi, will be locked down as of midnight.
Chibi is roughly 120km south of Wuhan and has a population of nearly 500,000.
It looks as though Chibi, Wuhan and Huanggang are all to be locked down, with Ezhou’s rail services suspended.
Will give more information once available.
What are the symptoms, where has it spread and is there treatment?
The Independent’s Asia editor Adam Withnall answers all your questions about the coronavirus:
Health secretary: True number of cases likely to be far higher than China’s figure, and will rise
In his address to parliament, Matt Hancock warned the true number of cases would likely be far higher than that given by Chinese officials, a day after Imperial College London research suggested some 4,000 people were infected in Wuhan alone.
But Mr Hancock said there were no confirmed cases so far on UK soil but that there was now an “increased likelihood”.
“The chief medical officer has revised the risk to the UK population from ‘very low’ to ‘low’ and has concluded that while there is an increased likelihood that cases may arise in this country, we are well prepared and well equipped to deal with them,” he told MPs.
Authorities confirm cases in Xinjiang, prompting further concern for detained Uighurs
Chinese state media is reporting the virus has spread to Xinjiang, according to a The New York Times‘ Hong Kong reporter.
More than a million Muslims are thought to be held in “re-education” camps in the region, which are widely believed to be in complete violation of the detainees’ human rights, prompting fears that inhumane conditions could complicate and exacerbate the spread of the virus there.
Third city shuts train stations
Ezhou officials have announced the city of more than one million people has shut its train stations. It is also located close to Wuhan, the outbreak’s epicentre.
It comes hours after Huanggang – a city of 7.5 million people situated 70km from Wuhan became the second city to go into lockdown. Huanggang had reported 12 cases of the coronavirus as of the end of Monday.
In addition to suspending public bus and railway operations from midnight (1600 GMT), Huanggang officials ordered indoor entertainment venues including movie theatres and internet cafes to shut, and asked citizens not to leave the city other than under special circumstances.
Trying to contain city of 11 million people ‘new to science’, WHO’s China chief says
“It has not been tried before as a public health measure,” said Gauden Galea, the World Health Organisation’s representative in China. “We cannot at this stage say it will or it will not work.
SWAT teams, police and paramilitary troops were reportedly sent to guard Wuhan’s train station before metal barriers were placed definitively around the entrance at 10am, as masses of people hoping to leave gathered in front of the station and cars lined the city’s exit routes.
Face mask factories reopen amid fears of shortage despite holiday
Chinese manufacturers are reopening factories closed for New Year and promising employees up to four times their usual pay, as shelves empty across the country.
“From what I have heard, the mask shortage is much, much more severe than what the public knows,” Cao Jun, general manager of mask manufacturer Lanhine, told Reuters. “Almost all hospital workers nationwide are facing a huge shortage of masks, not just in Wuhan. That’s very terrible.”
He said the firm’s clients are demanding a combined 200 million masks per day compared to its normal production rate of 400,000 a day.
Shanghai takes steps to prevent spread
Senior citizens in China’s commercial capital are monitoring their health, staying indoors to reduce exposure, and even giving up meat, according to Reuters.
“I think this new year is going to be less festive,” a 70-year-old man told Reuters while stood outside a bustling clinic in Shanghai, wearing a mask and waiting to see a doctor because he had felt feverish the previous night. “It’s better to be safe and this way I won’t affect other people.”
Most virus victims have been older than 60 or suffered pre-existing conditions. The youngest was a 48-year-old woman.
But its not just senior citizens that are concerned. One PhD student living in the city shared footage purporting to show one person suspected of carrying the virus being transported in a metal box at Shanghai airport.
Meanwhile, a Wuhan resident has told Sky News of his decision not to leave the city before it was locked down.
Admitting that he was concerned over the possibility of food shortages – nobody is allowed to leave or enter the city – he maintained it was “important not to panic”.
There could be as many as 4,000 cases in Wuhan alone, Imperial College study finds
While Chinese authorities confirmed nearly 600 cases of the virus by late on Wednesday and revealed a further suspected 393 cases had been reported, UK-based scientists have calculated the true figure could be significantly higher.
In a report on Wednesday, Imperial College London said it estimated a total of 4,000 cases of the coronavirus in Wuhan alone as of 18 January, an infection rate based on the number of cases reported in China and elsewhere.
They calculated the range of uncertainty meant the true number could be anywhere from 1,000 to 9,700.
Of eight known cases worldwide, Thailand has confirmed four, while Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States have reported one each.
Health secretary Matt Hancock will address the House of Commons later today in a public statement on the coronavirus.
Second Chinese city to be placed on lockdown
Huanggang officials announced public bus and rail services will be suspended as of midnight, as citizens are warned not to leave the city except in special circumstances, Reuters reports.
Will provide more information on this once it becomes available.
Scientists question possible link to snakes
Research published in the Journal of Medical Virology on Wednesday suggests the virus may have first transitioned to humans from a snake.
Comparing the virus’ genetic code to that of a wide variety of animals, scientists identified the closest matches as belonging to two species of snake – the Chinese cobra and many-banded krait.
Both species are native to China, from Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, to Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post.
But some scientists are disputing this, with government medical adviser Zhong Nanshan also identifying badgers and rats as possible sources.
17 people being monitored in US as Washington man diagnosed with virus
The 30-year-old patient had travelled to Wuhan in November and December and was diagnosed on Monday.
He is doing well and may be released from the medical centre in Everett, Washington in the near future, the hospital’s chief medical officer Jay Cook told a press conference.
None of the 17 people who were in close contact with the patient have displayed symptoms of the flu-like illness, said John Wiesman, Washington state’s health secretary.
While health authorities reassured the public that the general risk was low, Mr Wiesman said: “I would expect at some point we’re going to have more cases in the US.”
Passengers aboard the man’s flight from China are being contacted by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and state health authorities.
The CDC has raised its travel alert for Wuhan to a level two, calling for enhanced precautions. All travellers from Wuhan are being directed to five US airports – in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco – for screening.
The CDC is developing a test for the virus and hopes to soon start distributing it to state health departments.
Virus a ‘huge concern for the world’, business secretary says
Andrea Leadsom has assured Sky News that the UK is routinely checking flights from Wuhan and will follow the advice of international health authorities.
While acknowledging the global concern, she tempered this by adding: “I think everybody will be worried in principle but obviously it’s important to have a measured reaction.”
Simon Calder: Everything travellers should know about coronavirus
The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to Wuhan, and some airlines are now issuing waivers that allow travellers to change their plans without penalty.
The Independent’s travel correspondent lays out everything you should be aware of if travelling.
Fears abound over Lunar New Year travel
Health officials fear the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of people across China prepare for domestic and international travel to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which begins on Saturday.
Many people were cancelling trips, buying face masks and avoiding cinemas and shopping centres, and even turning to an online plague simulation game as a way to cope.
While the holiday is typically the high season for distributors, with cinemas attracting huge crowds, the release of seven movies over the New Year period has been postponed.
Taiwan’s China Airlines said it had suspended flights to Wuhan and Hong Kong’s MTR Corp said it had suspended sales of high-speed rail tickets to and from Wuhan.
World Health Organisation delay decision on emergency declaration
The UN’s health agency were due to make a verdict on how to classify the outbreak on Wednesday, but the body’s secretary-general said more time was needed to review the evidence.
China ‘places 11 million people in Wuhan on lockdown‘
Wuhan’s government said it would shut down all urban transport networks and suspend outgoing flights from 10am on Thursday, state media said. However some airlines were operating after the deadline, according to local media.
State media broadcast images of one of Wuhan’s transport hubs, the Hankou rail station, nearly deserted, with gates blocked or barred. The government is urging citizens not to leave the city.
Highway toll booths around the city were closing down, state media reported, which would effectively cut off road exits. Guards were patrolling major highways, one resident told Reuters.
As the city slipped into isolation, residents thronged into hospitals for checks and scrambled for supplies, clearing out supermarket shelves and queuing for petrol.
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