WHO says prepare for local outbreaks; China slams US control

The government said only one person from each household would be allowed out to shop for food once every two days.“Others are not allowed to go out except for medical treatment, to do epidemic prevention and control work or to work in supermarkets and pharmacies,” it said in an announcement.China’s increasingly drastic anti-disease controls started with the Jan. 23 suspension of plane, bus and train links to Wuhan, an industrial center of 11 million people. The official Xinhua News Agency said people in Hubei who work outside the province also were given an extended holiday.The party decision “highlighted the importance of prevention and control of the epidemic among travelers,” Xinhua said.Americans returning from China will be allowed into the country, but will face screening and are required to undertake 14 days of self-screening. Experts say there is evidence the new virus is spreading among people in China.Although scientists expect to see limited transmission of the virus between people with family or other close contact, they are concerned about cases of infection spreading to people who might have less exposure.In Japan, a tour guide and bus driver became infected after escorting two tour groups from Wuhan. It was the first time a federal quarantine has been ordered since the 1960s, when one was enacted over concern about smallpox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.None of the Americans being housed at a Southern California military base has shown signs of illness, but infected people don’t show symptoms immediately and may be able to pass on the virus before they appear sick.___Associated Press writers Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi, Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Hau Dinh in Hanoi, Vietnam, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.