China counts 2,700 cases of new virus, 80 deaths

The death toll from a new virus has risen to 80 with more than 2,700 confirmed cases, China's government said on Jan. 27, after the health minister warned that the virus's ability to "spread is getting stronger."

China also on Jan. 27 extended the Lunar New Year holiday by 3 days to next Sunday in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

The National Health Commission said there were 769 new cases confirmed in the 24 hours through midnight Sunday, totaling 2,744 confirmed cases.

The government also reported five cases in Hong Kong and two in Macao. Scattered have been found in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia. The U.S. has confirmed cases in Washington state, Chicago, Southern California and Arizona.

President Xi Jinping has called the outbreak a grave situation and said the government was stepping up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to the city at the center of the crisis, Wuhan, which remains on lockdown with no flights, trains or buses in or out.

While warning the virus seemed be spreading more easily, China's Health Minister Ma Xiaowei said travel restrictions and other strict measures should bring results "at the lowest cost and fastest speed."

The U.S. Consulate in Wuhan plans evacuate its personnel and some other Americans aboard a charter flight. France and Japan were weighing similar decisions.

The epidemic has revived memories of the SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 as it spread around the world in 2002 and 2003. Its spread has come amid China's busiest travel period of the year, when millions crisscross the country or head abroad...