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CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS-POLITICS
Chinese premier visits city at epicentre of virus
WUHAN, China, Jan 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Premier Li Keqiang on Monday became
the most senior Chinese leader to visit Wuhan since the city was struck by
the outbreak of a deadly virus that has spread across the country and sparked
global concern.
The virus toll has spiked to 80 dead despite a huge lockdown of Wuhan and
Hubei province, home to the majority of fatalities from a disease that has
infected more than 2,700 people nationwide so far.
Wearing a mask and blue plastic scrubs, Li was in Wuhan to “investigate and
guide” ongoing efforts to control the virus in the city of 11 million people,
which has been placed under an unprecedented quarantine, China’s State
Council said on its official social media account.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, said Li would meet with patients and
medical staff on the frontline.
The premier was appointed head of a working group to tackle the epidemic,
which began at a market in Wuhan that was selling wild animals for food.
The group has already announced an extension to the Lunar New Year holiday
originally scheduled to end on January 30 “to reduce population flows”.
Transport curbs have also been imposed around China to cut off transmission
routes.
With the coronavirus also expanding globally, World Health Organization
chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is travelling to Beijing to meet with
government officials on the crisis.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1221 hrs