China’s isolation grows as virus toll reaches 259!

BEIJING: China faced deepening isolation over its coronavirus epidemic on Saturday as the death toll soared to 259, with the United States and Australia leading a growing list of nations to impose extraordinary Chinese travel bans.
With Britain, Russia and Sweden among the countries confirming their first infections, the virus has now spread to more than two dozen nations, sending governments scurrying to limit their exposure.The United States toughened its stance on Friday by declaring a national emergency, temporarily barring entry to foreigners who had been in China within the past two weeks.
“Foreign nationals, other than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents… will be denied entry into the United States,” Health Secretary Alex Azar said.
Australia said it was barring entry to non-citizens arriving from China, while Australian citizens who had travelled there would be required to go into “self-isolation” for two weeks.
Vietnam suspended all flights from mainland China and Hong Kong effective from Saturday. Taiwan also initially appeared on the list of banned routes but references to the self-ruled island were later removed.
Similar expansive restrictions have been announced by countries including Italy, Singapore, and China’s northern neighbour Mongolia.
The United States, Japan, Britain, Germany and other nations had already advised their citizens not to travel to China.
Britain said on Saturday it was temporarily withdrawing some diplomatic staff and their families from across the country, a day after the US State Department ordered embassy employees to send home family members under the age of 21.

‘Unkind’
Beijing insists it can contain the virus and called Washington’s advice against travel to China “unkind”.
“Certainly it is not a gesture of goodwill,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
The US emergency declaration also requires Americans returning from the ground zero Chinese province of Hubei to be placed in mandatory 14-day quarantine, and health screening for American citizens coming from other parts of China.
The virus emerged in early December and has been traced to a market in Hubei’s capital Wuhan that sold wild animals.
It spread globally on the wings of a Lunar New Year holiday rush that sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel domestically and overseas.
In a bid to stop the contagion, the government has extended the holiday through this weekend and urged people to avoid public gatherings.
Many provinces and cities have called on companies to remain closed for another week after the holiday ends on Monday.
The economic fallout continued on Saturday as Apple announced that “out of an abundance of caution” its China stores would be closed until February 9. — AFP