Reuters and AFP, BEIJINGChinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) has asked the EU to facilitate China’s urgent procurement of medical supplies from member countries, the Chinese government said yesterday, amid a coronavirus outbreak that has killed 259 people and infected nearly 12,000. Other governments need to prepare for “domestic outbreak control” if the disease spreads in their countries, WHO representative in Beijing Gauden Galea said. The US, Japan, the UK, Germany and other nations had already advised their citizens not to travel to China. Wuhan officials have been criticized online for withholding information about the outbreak until late December, despite knowing of it weeks earlier. China finally lurched into action last week, effectively quarantining whole cities in Hubei and tens of millions of people.

Source: Taipei Times February 01, 2020 15:56 UTC