Chinese authorities have said that efforts to control the outbreak of a deadly Sars-like virus have reached a critical point as more than 100m Chinese prepare to board trains and aeroplanes to return home for the Lunar New Year.
The coronavirus has killed nine people and infected at least 440 in 13 provinces, Beijing said on Wednesday, nearly doubling the number of affected people from only a day earlier.
The disease is believed to have originated in a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December but has since spread across the globe to Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and North America. US authorities confirmed the first case on American soil on Tuesday.