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  • as the battle could to contain the virus continues.

  • Fears about the impact of the Corona virus have now reached the economy.

  • Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped off the value of leading Chinese companies.

  • On the first day of trading zits China's markets opened after the Lunar New Year holiday.

  • Now it's the Shanghai Composite Index were talking about.

  • It closed nearly 8% down there.

  • That's its worst performance in nearly five years, the slump coming despite the Chinese government injecting more than $170 billion into the markets to try and ease investors concerns.

  • Meanwhile, a special hospital to deal with the crisis has bean opened in Wuhan.

  • That's the city at the centre off the outbreak.

  • What is amazing about this hospital?

  • It was built in just eight days, 1000 bed hospital, one of two dedicated facilities built to help tackle the outbreak.

  • We are expecting the 2nd 1 to be finished on Wednesday.

  • More than 360 people in China have now died from the virus.

  • More than 17,000 people have bean infected, and in Hong Kong medical workers have been striking to demand the closure off the border with mainland China, there really fears off the virus spreading into the territory.

  • In the last few minutes, we've been keeping an eye on a press conference from Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam.

  • She has now said that 10 border crossings out of so teen with the mainland will be suspended.

  • Their stools.

  • Family 76 entry every day.

  • There are still some 30,000 plus home residents and even Hong Kong.

  • And, as I said, after they leave, they will come back again.

  • And therefore they may still cost concern because there's receptor bringing back the disease.

  • So today I'm gonna announced that for lynch crossings and sea crossings, there would be just too boundary control points a Sun Jin Bae BCP as well as a Hong Kong or Macau bridge.

  • Let's take you straight to Shanghai and join our correspondent there.

  • Robin Brand a significant move there from Carrie Lam Robin.

  • What's been the reaction?

  • Well, you're right.

  • Further restrictions put in place by the semi autonomous government there in Hong Kong.

  • First, they had reduced air traffic coming from the mainland to Hong Kong last week by about 50% and shut down various other ways of getting into Hong Kong today.

  • They're gone even further now, just leaving three ways to get into Hong Kong from the Chinese mainland.

  • The first is by air into the main airport.

  • The second is through the Shenzhen Bay Area, and the third is through that newly built bridge open last year that links Macau, the Chinese mainland, on Hong Kong.

  • So they're trying to restrict the areas to restrict the travel, but also so they can create these bottlenecks whereby they can assess people going out.

  • But of course, more importantly as well, coming in the context here is the Hong Kong is a travel hub, obviously a huge number of people going through it.

  • So that presents a concern with spread many of them from the Chinese mainland.

  • But also during the SARS outbreak some 18 years ago, Hong Kong was hit disproportionately hard on.

  • That's why I think it is even keener to take the measures it can to try and ensure that isn't repeated this time round and robin.

  • There's bean worries for days now about the impact off the Corona virus on the Chinese economy, and we're seeing evidence very real evidence of that today.

  • You're certainly in the short term.

  • I mean, the markets here today we're just a kind of a sea of red in the context is it's the first time investors have had a chance to express their feelings since the end of the extended Lunar New Year Festival.

  • So, yeah, there was gonna be a selloff anyway, but it was pretty severe when it came.

  • And the market here in Shanghai, where I'm talking to you from that, closed down nearly 8%.

  • Overall, about $400 billion worth of value wiped off leading companies.

  • It spread to commodities as well, which is hugely important in terms of, ah, a gauge of China's economic health.

  • So, you know, copper, steel, rubber, cotton, all of those down by 678%.

  • This is a barometer.

  • Not so much of how investors think the Chinese government has dealt with always dealing with the outbreak, but about the future and about the impact will think it have on will have on China's economy.

  • On remember, China's economy is already having to deal with a slowdown and its growth rate, the like of which it hasn't seen for some three decades.

  • So already the government has been trying to use some measures to try and ease the slowdown.

  • There is now gonna have to go further.

  • But you wonder what else is left in the tank.

  • Robin, good to see you.

  • Thanks for joining us from Shanghai.

as the battle could to contain the virus continues.

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