China's Xi says country faces grave challenge as deadly virus spreads
"Life is of paramount importance. When an epidemic breaks out, a command is issued. It is our responsibility to prevent and control it," Xi said, according to state news outlet Xinhua.
Xi signalled that the ruling Communist Party was taking the virus seriously and coordinating efforts from within the all-powerful Politburo, which met on Saturday.
The meeting followed a directive from the State Council on how local authorities should handle the outbreak, including installing fever-reading stations at airports and train stations.
China has also suspended the operation of tour groups, a popular way for millions of Chinese to travel domestically and abroad, although tours currently under way will be able to finish their travels, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Beijing became the latest city to limit traffic as transit authorities announced all passenger buses would be banned from travelling to and from the Chinese capital from Sunday onwards, according to state media.
The news was announced on Saturday night and could impact millions of travellers moving in and out of Beijing, a popular hotspot during the Lunar New Year holiday for domestic tourists.
In central China, nearly all road traffic was suspended from Sunday onwards in Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the virus first broke out in December. Wuhan has been placed under quarantine together with a handful of other cities, with some 43 million people affected indefinitely.
The government has poured resources into Wuhan, with some 1,200 medical personnel on call over the weekend, as China's National Health Commission announced the number of deaths linked to the new coronavirus had risen to 41, of which 39 were in Wuhan. By late Saturday there were 1,372 confirmed infections across the country.
Rapid construction of two new pre-fabricated hospitals is also under way in Wuhan to increase patient capacity, with the buildings expected to be operational in early February.
The virus has spread particularly quickly as it coincided with the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically and abroad.
Cases have been reported in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United States, and Australia, as well as in the Chinese territory of Macau.
The first cases in Europe were confirmed in France late Friday.
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called for a meeting of EU state health representatives on Monday to discuss response options to the spread of the virus.
"We stand ready to act and step up our response if needed," she tweeted, adding that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was "in the process of updating its risk assessment."
France and the US, both of which have consulates in Wuhan, have taken steps to evacuate citizens and their foreign spouses and children, according to the South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong called a state of emergency on Saturday and banned all flights and high-speed trains to and from Wuhan following five confirmed cases of coronavirus. Most schools have cancelled classes until mid-February.
The semi-autonomous Chinese city was particularly hard hit by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a disease that infected 8,000 people and killed 800 globally in a 2002-03 pandemic that also started in China. The new coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses that caused SARS.
