Motorists in Wuhan defy virus threat to transport sick people to hospital

Citizens of China's Wuhan city are making headlines as they are coming out in large numbers to help strangers despite being told to stay indoors and avoid human contact. Wuhan is the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus that hit China in December last year. Citizens in the city are defying the threat from the contagious disease to help fellow residents by driving sick people to hospitals. 

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Zhang Lin, a 48-year-old resident of the city told news agencies that the public transport in Wuhan has been halted for days now and that they are pitching in to help fellow citizens to reach the hospital. The city that was the starting point for an armed rebellion against the Qing dynasty in 1911, is showing their reputation of being tough. Zhang Lin is not the only one helping people to get to the hospital, there are many more like Lin, who are helping people since the deadly virus broke out in the country. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

The death toll in China's Hubei region, the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus, has risen to 56 and the number of people infected by the disease is close to 2,000, authorities confirmed to the international media on Sunday. Out of the 56 people that died, 52 were from Hubei, the province where the outbreak took place, two deaths were reported from central Henan province, while one person died in Heilongjiang and Hebei respectively. 

Read: China Expands Travel Ban Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, 56 Million People Affected

Chinese state media earlier reported that the authorities have put a travel ban on 13 cities, out of which 12 are in Hubei. Chinese authorities have ordered to construct two temporary hospitals in Wuhan. Work on one hospital has already begun with 35 diggers and 10 bulldozers arriving at the site on Thursday night. According to media reports, the hospitals will have a capacity of an estimated 1,500 beds to treat patients. China constructed a similar hospital in 2003 after it was hit by SARS.

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