U.S., Japan pull nationals from China virus city
The United States and Japan evacuated their nationals from a quarantined city while British Airways suspended flights to mainland China as deaths from a new virus leapt to 132 and a government economist predicted a huge hit to the economy.
Beijing’s pledge to slay the “devil” coronavirus has won the trust of the World Health Organization (WHO) but confirmation of another 1,459 cases - taking the total to 5,974 in China - only fueled public alarm around the world.
Deaths from the flu-like virus also rose by 26 to 132.
Almost all have been in the central province of Hubei, the capital of which is Wuhan, where the virus emerged last month in a live wild animal market.
The situation remained “grim and complex”, Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged.
In many Chinese cities, streets were largely deserted with the few who ventured out wearing masks. Starbucks stores in Beijing required people to have temperatures taken and posted notices saying it was a state requirement to wear masks inside.
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