President Xi Admits "Grave" Coronavirus Is Accelerating" As Hong Kong Declares State Of Emergency

Summary

• 1497 Cases Worldwide; 42 Deaths: 3% official mortality rate (SARS was 11%)
• 18 Chinese cities - 56 million people - quarantined
• President Xi said China faces a 'grave situation' as the spread is 'accelerating'
• US and Russia planning evacuation of citizens from Wuhan
• Australia and Malaysia join the list of global nations with CoV cases, in addition to France, Pakistan, Singapore, the US and Nepal
• Chinese President Xi Jinping empowered local governments and said teams from Beijing will be sent to severely impacted areas to strengthen front-line prevention and containment
• The US and France chartered planes to evacuate diplomats and nationals in containment zones
• The director of the CDC says she expects cases of human-to-human transmission in the US
• China banned all domestic tour groups immediately and overseas group tours from Jan 27
• Starbucks and China said they were closing some stores in China
• Wuhan is building a second emergency hospital, this one with 1300 beds
• 3 doctors in Beijing who visited Wuhan are confirmed to have the virus

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Update (1530ET): Now that the market is closed, local authorities apparently feel it's safe to start dribbling out the real numbers. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases soared on Saturday as China confirmed roughly 500 new cases. The number of cases outside China has also grown as Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have all confirmed new cases. Meanwhile, another death has been confirmed, bringing the total to 42.

According to the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper that has been keeping probably the most comprehensive tally of confirmed CoV cases around the world, put the total number at 1,497 Saturday afternoon in New York. Three doctors in Beijing who visited Wuhan have been confirmed to have the virus.

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