BEIJING: China on Friday (Jan 24) at 5pm has added four more cities to a transport ban around the epicentre of a deadly virus, restricting the movement of some 41 million people in 13 cities as authorities move in faster urgency to control the disease. Officials in Xianning, Xiaogan, Enshi and Zhijiang cities -- all located in central Hubei province where the virus first emerged -- said public transport services including buses and train stations would be closed. Earlier on Friday Jingzhou city, with a population of 6.4 million, said all services departing from its railway station will be suspended. Huangshi, which has a population of 2.4 million, shut transport routes Friday as well as closing a ferry terminal and bridge over the Yangtze River and suspending public transport. The move followed the suspension of long-distance passenger buses, tourist coaches and public transport from Thursday night in Qianjiang, a city in central Hubei with nearly a million people.

Source: The Star January 24, 2020 09:33 UTC