Wuhan virus: China deploys army medics

In this Friday, Jan. 24,2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a medical worker attends to a patient in the intensive care unit at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. China expanded its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people and rushed to build a prefabricated, 1,000-bed hospital for victims Friday as the outbreak cast a pall over Lunar New Year, the country's biggest, most festive holiday. (Xiong Qi/Xinhua via AP)

WUHAN (AFP): The Chinese army deployed medical specialists Saturday (Jan 25) to the centre of a spiralling viral outbreak that has killed 41 people and spread around the world, as millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown.

The country's most important celebration has been all but cancelled for some 56 million people as authorities expanded travel bans in central Hubei province, now affecting 18 cities.