A top US expert of infectious disease has said he would support a temporary national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus while New York’s mayor said he also was prepared to lockdown his city, if needed.

“Every option is on the table in a crisis,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN when asked if he could lockdown New York to curb the rapidly multiplying deadly virus. “We’ve never seen anything like this.

"It’s changing every hour so we’re going to constantly make new decisions," he said.

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