CHINA has sent medical workers and equipment to a newly built hospital, infused cash into financial markets and further restricted people’s movement in sweeping new steps to contain the rapidly spreading coronavirus and its escalating impact.

Updated figures of 361 deaths and 2829 new cases over the last 24 hours bring the Chinese total to 17,205 cases.

They come as other countries continued evacuating citizens from hardest-hit Hubei province and restricted travel by Chinese people or those who recently travelled in the country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the number of coronavirus cases will keep growing because tests are pending on thousands of suspected cases.

Chinese president Xi Jinping, presiding over a special meeting of the country’s top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, said “we have launched a people’s war of prevention of the epidemic”.

He told the Politburo standing committee that the country must race against time to curb the spread of the epidemic and that those who neglect their duties will be punished.

His speech was read by an anchor on the major evening news programme of state broadcaster CCTV.

Reopening of schools was delayed in order to keep the virus from spreading further in Hubei, where the 1000-bed hospital in the provincial capital Wuhan was completed in just 10 days.

A second hospital with 1500 beds will open within days.

Restrictions were tightened still further in one city by allowing only one family member to venture out to buy supplies every other day.