- Several provinces raise alert level, centralising command of provincial-level response measures
- Authorities have confirmed the first deaths outside the epicentre around Wuhan
Several of China's provinces have declared the highest level of public health emergency in response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, handing control of response measures to the State Council in Beijing.
All but two of the country's 31 provinces and municipalities had reported cases by Friday, a day after lockdowns and travel bans came into effect in Wuhan " the epicentre of the outbreak " and several other Chinese cities.
As of Friday afternoon, China's National Health Commission had confirmed 875 cases of infection nationwide, with 26 deaths, including the first two to be reported from outside Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital city.
Infections in the north
One of the deaths was reported in Hebei province, neighbouring Beijing, and one was in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
On Friday, two railway staff in the northern port city of Tianjin, about 130km (80 miles) from Beijing, were confirmed as having the coronavirus.
What you need to know about the coronavirus in China
Tianjin Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the two staff, the city's fifth and sixth confirmed cases, worked in the same passenger train carriage. Screening and inspection of the train had been conducted overnight and people who had close contact with the two employees had been placed under medical supervision, the centre said.
It came as hundreds of millions of people travelled across the country for the Lunar New Year holiday, raising concerns that China's biggest annual migration could hasten the spread of infection.
Call to report negligence
The State Council, China's cabinet, called for people to report inadequate epidemic control measures to its online inspection platform.
"The State Council inspection and monitoring office will assign agents to investigate information about delays, cover-ups, negligence and incompetent epidemic prevention work," it said in a notice published online. "Confirmed cases would be severely dealt with by law and regulations."
Highest alert
Hubei province on Friday declared the outbreak a "Grade I public health emergency" " the most severe level of emergency response " as did Anhui province. Four other provinces and municipalities had already done so.
Guangdong, Zhejiang and Hunan provinces were the first to declare the emergency response on Thursday evening, and the municipality of Tianjin followed suit on Friday morning.
Grade I status centralises the command and co-ordination of provincial-level emergency response work under the State Council in Beijing.
Outbound transport from 13 cities and counties in Hubei had been closed down by Friday morning, according to China National Radio, leaving most of the province's major cities in lockdown.
More to come …
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