MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2020) About 300,000 people had left the Chinese city of Wuhan, the origin of the outbreak of a new coronavirus, before the city imposed travel restrictions, media reported on Thursday.
The Xin Jing Bao newspaper reported that 16 trains left for Beijing, while 42 and 26 others headed for the Chinese cities of Changsha and Guangzhou.
Earlier on Thursday, Wuhan banned local residents from leaving the city and stopped all transportation. China's Transport Ministry has also ordered the suspension of all passenger buses and ferries going to the infected city, saying that those already on their way must immediately turn back.
The unknown type of viral pneumonia was first reported in Wuhan in early January and has since been confirmed by China and the World Health Organization to be a new strain of the coronavirus, currently being labeled as 2019-nCoV or Novel Coronavirus. The virus has also been detected in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and the United States. At least 17 people have died and over 600 have been infected so far.
