British Airways halts flights to mainland China

LONDON, Jan 29 (MENA) - British Airways has suspended all flights to mainland China as the number of coronavirus cases in the country surpassed the SARS epidemic, Sky News reported Wednesday.

The airline has also suspended bookings on its website until March following the Foreign Office warning against "all but essential travel".

Virgin Atlantic has told all travelers booked on flights to, from and through China, including Hong Kong, between 22 January and 29 February to re-book their flights, change their destination or request a refund.

In the last 24 hours, 26 people have died in China, bringing the death toll to 132, and the numbers of confirmed cases have soared to 5,974, an increase of 1,459 from Tuesday.

The latest figures mean the new virus, dubbed Wuhan Virus, has now infected more people than SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) which infected 5,327 people and killed 349 between November 2002 and July 2003.