US advises no travel to China, where virus deaths top 200
Source: AP
By KEN MORITSUGU
BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. advised against all travel to China as the number of cases of a worrying new virus spiked more than tenfold in a week, including the highest death toll in a 24-hour period reported Friday.
The virus has infected almost 10,000 people globally in just two months, a worrying sign of its spread among people that prompted the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a global emergency.
The State Department’s travel advisory told Americans currently in China to consider departing using commercial means, and requested that all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel in light of the virus.
China as of Friday morning counted 9,692 confirmed cases with a death toll of 213, including 43 new fatalities. The vast majority of the cases have been in Hubei province and its provincial capital, Wuhan, where the first illnesses were detected in December. No deaths have been reported outside China.
Travelers wear face masks as they stand outside the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The U.S. advised against all travel to China on Friday after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of a new virus that has spread to more than a dozen countries a global emergency. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Read more: https://apnews.com/9e22f8aabe2f454593b9f9b4c67eb31f
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