CORONAVIRUS SCARE: AMERICA BECOMES 1ST COUNTRY TO STOP SOME FLIGHTS TO CHINA

The United States on Tuesday announced that from February first week onwards it will be grounding selected flights to China, the epicentre of the deadly Coronavirus; thereby becoming the first country to do so, reports USA Today.

While US usually operates 12 flights to China daily, the number is expected to come down significantly.

This happened even as the country began expanding the number of domestic centres screening passengers for Coronavirus from 5 to 20. It also warned Americans against non-essential travel to China.

"Due to a significant decline in demand for travel to China, we are suspending some flights between our hub cities and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai beginning Feb. 1 through Feb. 8. We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will adjust our schedule as needed," a statement from the superpower said.