COVID-19: China postpones parliament for first time in decades

Virus epicentre Wuhan revokes announcement easing lockdown

China has decided to postpone the annual meeting of its parliament due in March for the first time since the Cultural Revolution, as the country fights to contain the coronavirus outbreak, state media reported.

The standing committee of the National People's Congress will decide on a new date later, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Meanwhile, an announcement that the Chinese city of Wuhan would relax some of its travel restrictions and allow some people to leave was made without authorisation and has been revoked, the local government said.

The city at the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak said it would continue to impose strict controls over its borders in order to prevent the virus from spreading further. It added it had reprimanded the people responsible for the earlier announcement that healthy people would be allowed to leave if they had vital business.


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