The spread of a deadly respiratory virus has prompted the authorities to limit travel in cities in central China, including Wuhan, where the disease was first found last month. It has since spread to at least four other countries.
The outbreak comes just before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday on Friday, as hundreds of millions of people travel across China. Epidemiologists fear that could make the virus harder to contain.
Here’s a look at the public health crisis in photos.
Thursday
A railway station in Beijing. China expanded restrictions on travel that will apply to tens of millions of people.
A supermarket in Wuhan, where masks are now everyday clothing.
A mall in Wuhan. The provincial capital of Hubei is usually busy during the holiday season.
A security guard disinfecting a park in Wuhan.
Paramilitary police officers guarding an entrance to the closed Hankou Railroad Station in Wuhan. Public transit and outbound trains were to stop service at midnight.
A train from Shanghai to Wuhan. Services are usually packed as the Lunar New Year approaches.
Staff members checking the temperature of passengers after a train from Wuhan arrived in Hangzhou, in China’s eastern Zhejiang Province.
Arriving at the nearly deserted Wuhan station.
Wednesday
A hospital worker washing the entrance to the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, which handled some coronavirus patients.
Officials screening arrivals in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Travelers arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport from China.
Visitors at the Venetian casino hotel resort in Macau, after the region reported its first case of the coronavirus.
Medical staff members wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan.
Workers producing face masks at a factory in Handan in China’s northern Hebei Province.
Hankou Train Station in Wuhan.
The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, above on Jan. 17, has been disinfected and closed after it was linked to the new coronavirus.
