In Hubei, the origin of the epidemic, a cordon sanitaire was imposed on Wuhan and other major cities in China, affecting around 500 million people, which is unprecedented in scale in human history,Coronavirus COVID-19 prompts China to lock down its megacities as the death toll climbs ABC News, 15 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020. to limit the rate of spread of the disease. The 'lockdown' of Wuhan, and subsequently a wider-scale 'lockdown' throughout Hubei province, began on 23 January 2020. At this stage, the spread of the virus in mainland China was running at approximately 50% growth in cases per day. On 8 February, the daily rate of spread fell below 10%.
In Hubei, the origin of the epidemic, a cordon sa.nitaire was imposed on Wuhan and other major cities in China, affecting around 500 million people, which is unprecedented in scale in human history,Coronavirus COVID-19: prompts China to lock down its megacities as the death toll climbs ABC News, 15 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020. to limit the rate of spread of the disease. The 'lockdown' of Wuhan, and subsequently a wider-scale 'lockdown' throughout Hubei province, began on 23 January 2020. At this stage, the spread of the virus in mainland China was running at approximately 50% growth in cases per day. On 8 February, the daily rate of spread fell below 10%.