With more than 1,400 people infected worldwide, most of them in China, Hong Kong declared a virus emergency, scrapped celebrations and restricted links to mainland China. Schools in Hong Kong that are currently on Lunar New Year holidays will remain closed until Feb. 17. Some 1,372 people in China had been infected with the virus - traced to a seafood market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Medical staff transfer a suspected coronavirus patient at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong. Authorities have since imposed transport restrictions on nearly all of Hubei province, which has a population of 59 million.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 25, 2020 20:37 UTC