China Orders Centralized Response to Virus Outbreak as Alert Level Rises

BEIJING—Xi Jinping established a new, high-level party committee to take control of the Chinese government’s response to a deadly new virus that has quickly spread across the country and around the world, as Beijing halted overseas departures of Chinese tour groups and Hong Kong raised its epidemic alert to the highest level.

Chinese authorities, meanwhile, sent hundreds of doctors to the epicenter of the crisis, setting plans to build a second special-purpose clinic and repurposing 24 existing hospitals as specialized wards in a bid to contain the fast-spreading epidemic. It has now killed at least 56 people and infected more than 2,000 others.

The developments reflect heightened vigilance and fear over a newly identified coronavirus. Little about the virus is understood, including its origin, how easily it transmits from person to person and how long it takes for an infected individual to display symptoms.

After staying largely silent in public about the outbreak since it first emerged in central China last month, Mr. Xi on Saturday convened a special meeting of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, calling for a more centralized response to the epidemic and asserting personal responsibility in addressing the crisis.

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