China seals off more cities as virus toll climbs to 26

Customers wearing facemasks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city walk at a market in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. China sealed off millions of people near the epicentre of a virus outbreak on Tuesday (Jan 24), shutting down public transport in an eighth city in a quarantine effort as the death toll climbed to 26. - AFP

WUHAN: China sealed off millions more people near the epicentre of a virus outbreak on Friday (Jan 24), shutting down public transport in an eighth city in an unprecedented quarantine effort as the death toll climbed to 26.

While the World Heath Organisation held off on declaring a global emergency despite confirmed cases in half a dozen other countries, China expanded a lockdown now covering some 26 million people and cancelled some Lunar New Year celebrations to prevent the disease spreading further.