Coronavirus: China extends lockdown as first cases reported in Europe
Public transport suspended in at least 13 cities in China as death toll rises and France identifies Europe’s first cases
China has expanded an unprecedented lockdown during the country’s most important holiday to 13 cities and at least 36 million people, as efforts to contain the deadly new coronavirus were stepped up around the world and the first cases were reported in Europe.
Restrictions on movement were widened on Friday in China in an effort to stop the spread of the disease, which has now killed 26 people, affected almost 900, and been reported across South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand and Vietnam. On Friday the first cases were reported in Europe with France saying it had identified three cases. The French health minister, Agnès Buzyn, said it was likely there would be other cases.