WUHAN: Airlines began suspending flights to and from China on Wednesday as death toll from a deadly virus rose to 132.

The flight suspensions came as some countries began airlifts of their nationals trapped in Wuhan, the quarantined Chinese city of 11 million people at the centre of the epidemic.

Among 206 Japanese nationals who returned home on Wednesday, 12 were hospitalised for tests after they reported they felt unwell or showed flu-like symptoms.

A growing number of governments — including the United States, Britain and Germany — have advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China.

China has urged its own citizens to delay trips abroad, with at least 18 countries having confirmed cases of the disease.

British Airways was the first major airline to announce a suspension of flights to and from China, citing the travel advice of the foreign office.

It was followed by Ger­man flag carrier Lufthansa, one of Europe’s largest airlines, which said all flights to mainland China would be suspended until February 9. The announcement inclu­ded subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines.

Indonesia’s Lion Air Group, Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier by fleet size, said it would halt services to and from China from Saturday, and airlines from Myanmar and Nepal followed suit.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has reduced flights, citing low demand and the city government’s response plan to the virus.

Kazakhstan, an important China trade partner, stopped issuing visas to Chinese citizens and said it would halt cross-border passenger train traffic and suspend flights. In one of the most dramatic measures, the tiny Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea ann­ounced no travellers from Asia would be allowed in.

China has taken extraordinary measures to try and stop the disease spreading, including bans on tour groups travelling overseas, suspending schools and extending the Lunar New Year holiday.

Most street traffic in and around Wuhan has been banned in an unprecedented quarantine effort, leaving more than 50 million people shuttered in their homes.

“This is the first day since the lockdown that I’ve had to go out,” a man in his 50s said on the mostly deserted streets of the industrial city on Wednesday. “I have no choice because I need to buy food.”

Countries have scrambled to get their citizens out of Wuhan safely, but have faced logistical, medical and bureaucratic hurdles.

A US charter flight from Wuhan with about 210 Americans on board was met at a California military base on Wednesday by emergency vehicles with flashing lights and personnel in white biological hazard suits.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2020