Xi orders military to step up efforts against Coronavirus

People line up to buy face masks in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang region on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

London: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered the military to 'shoulder responsibility' to contain the Coronavirus outbreak that has killed 132 people, infected 6,000 others with six foreigners contracting the disease for the first time in China and spread to 17 countries.

Xi, who heads the People's Liberation Army, told the military to keep their mission firmly in mind and shoulder responsibility to make contribution to winning the battle against the novel Coronavirus. Already the military is pressing thousands of its medical personnel into Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak, to assist the doctors.

Meanwhile, a number of global airlines, including Air India, British Airways, Lion Air and Indigo airline on Wednesday suspended their flights to Chinese cities as Beijing struggled to contain the rapid spread of the Coronavirus within the country.

The Coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, in December and it has now spread across the globe. In China, 132 people have died and there are at least 6,061 confirmed cases of Coronavirus.

Chinese authorities are trying to contain the outbreak while other countries, including India, are working on plans to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province.

The US and Japan have already evacuated some of their citizens from Wuhan, the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak.

In London, British Airways, which operates daily flights to Shanghai and Beijing from Heathrow, announced the suspension of flights to and from mainland China 'with immediate effect' until January 31 while it assesses the situation.

"We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority," the airlines said.

Other airlines, including United Airlines, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific Airways, Lion Air have already cancelled some flights to China.

Air France suspended its 3 weekly flights to Wuhan on January 24, but as of Wednesday morning said it was maintaining its 23 weekly flights to Beijing and Shanghai.

In Germany, four cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed, making it the second European country to report cases, after France.

The United Arab Emirates has also confirmed its first cases of the virus in a family who recently returned to the UAE from Wuhan.

132
Total no. of people dead in China due to Coronavirus

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