Chinese president Xi Jinping says country is in a 'grave situation' amid fatal coronavirus outbreak

More than 1,300 cases confirmed globally The death toll from the virus is at 41 Doctor, 62, who was treating patients reported to have died
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Jacob Jarvis25 January 2020

China's president has said the nation faces a "grave situation" as the coronavirus spreads.

Xi Jinping told a policy meeting, aimed at looking for measures to fight the outbreak, that the virus was "accelerating its spread".

A report from state television in the country said plans have dictated resources and experts will be concentrated at designated hospitals for treatment of severe cases.

It said no treatment delayed due to cost and supplies of materials to Hubei province, including its capital Wuhan where the virus broke out, would be guaranteed.

China's President Xi Jinping has said the nation is in a 'grave situation'
REUTERS

It comes after the death toll from the outbreak climbed to 41 as of Friday. There have been more than 1,300 infections confirmed globally.

The fatalities so far have been contained to China, which has placed a reported 56 million people on lock down, with the majority occurring in the Hubei province around Wuhan.

Hu Yinghai, deputy director-general of the Civil Affairs Department in Hubei province, said: "We are steadily pushing forward the disease control and prevention ... But right now we are facing an extremely severe public health crisis,"

Inspections: Teams are looking for victims of the virus across China
Getty Images

In a bid to stop the spread, China's capital city Beijing will stop all inter-province shuttle buses from January 26, local media reported on Saturday, with no detail of when bus services will be resumed.

Wuhan authorities said they are rapidly constructing a new 1,000-bed hospital to deal with the crisis, to be completed on February 3. The facility will be modelled on a Sars hospital that was built in Beijing in just six days during the Sars outbreak.

People wearing masks walk through the Ginza shopping district
Getty Images

State-run China Global Television Network reported in a tweet on Saturday a doctor who had been treating patients in Wuhan, 62-year-old Liang Wudong, had died from the virus.

It was not immediately clear if his death was already counted in the official toll of 41.

The Department of Health is hunting for passengers who came from Wuhan, a city of 11 million people which is on lock down amid the outbreak.

Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters

Outside of China, the virus has been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, Malaysia, France, the United States and Australia.

In Australia, three men, aged 53, 43 and 35 in New South Wales were in stable condition after they were confirmed to have the virus after returning from Wuhan earlier this month.

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