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The 2019-nCoV coronavirus crisis in China continues to gather steam at a dizzying and nerve racking pace. Here’s the latest news:

Overnight, the United States issued.guidance for citizens planning to travel to China.

BREAKING: U.S. issues travel warning for China amid coronavirus outbreak and raises travel advisory level from 'exercise increased caution' to 'reconsider travel' https://t.co/lSEXgEWjO7

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) January 23, 2020

Meanwhile, scenes from Wuhan show infected patients being evacuated to hospitals.

https://twitter.com/xinyanyu/status/1220226571128266752?s=19

Armed police officers are preventing entry into Wuhan train station.

https://twitter.com/xinyanyu/status/1220219024207990784?s=19

Hospitals are.overwhelmed and dangerously crowded.

https://twitter.com/SavingHongKong/status/1220378771829583872?s=19

News circulating on Twitter point to an increasingly desperate situation.

This is… not good. Earlier today, several Wuhan hospitals put out a call for public donations of medical supplies e.g. surgical masks, scrubs, protective goggles. Gives some idea of how desperate the equipment shortage is and how under-resourced hospitals are in times of crisis pic.twitter.com/jhrVPyBTyH

— Laurie Chen (@lauriechenwords) January 23, 2020

People are stocking up on supplies.

https://twitter.com/dentistmaher/status/1220233461740392448?s=19

But markets are running out of food quickly.

fruit and vegetable are getting out of stock in our local supermarkets here in #Wuhan nonetheless its Chinese new year#WuhanCoronavirus #wuhanvirus #Beijing #China #ChinaPneumonia pic.twitter.com/4VjWU79P6M

— YASIN GAARDO (@YasinGaardo) January 23, 2020

News broke that more cities around Wuhan were being quarantined.

#China locks down more cities due to #WuhanCoronavirus. Huanggang (7.5mln pop.) will suspend public bus, railway from midnight (11a ET). Internet cafes, movie theaters, tourist sites, entertainment venues temporarily closed. Ezhou (1mln pop.) said it shut train stations.

— Eunice Yoon (@onlyyoontv) January 23, 2020

Now lockdowns in place for Wuhan, Huanggang, Ezhou, Xiantao, and Chibi

BBC News – China coronavirus: Lockdown measures rise across Hubei provincehttps://t.co/JTGjk3OLwT

— Kevin Yan (@Interneconomics) January 23, 2020

Chibi City announced that it will suspend the operation of urban public transport, rural passenger transport, & provincial and county passenger transport on 1/24. This is the 4th city in Hubei Province #quarantine: Wuhan, Huanggang and Ezhou. #CoronavirusOutbreak #nCoV2019 https://t.co/g62K5OVaPk

— COVID19 😷 💉 (@V2019N) January 23, 2020

https://twitter.com/StrategicNews2/status/1220375526239502337?s=19

Analysis from various outlets out the current crisis into context.

Huanggang/Ezhou lockdown may confirm my and @rzhongnotes' supposition yesterday that local, smaller travel networks for migrant workers are a bigger danger in spreading the coronavirus right now than richer people travelling further away. https://t.co/rgNBXbGqNj

— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) January 23, 2020

And #ScienceTwitter offered hot-takes of their own.

As China imposes an unprecedented quarantine on its citizens amid the #coronavirus outbreak, it's worth remembering:

The evidence on restricting travel to stop diseases like #coronavirus is clear: it doesn't work… 1/3https://t.co/O4b8EO0M6Q

— Julia Belluz (@juliaoftoronto) January 23, 2020

China ceases transport out of two more Hubei cities, Huanggang & Ezhou, joining Wuhan.

Social distancing (stopping mass gatherings, suspending mass transit) can be useful, but these limit mvmt & are more like mass quarantines w questionable efficacy.https://t.co/Sf2g2NN9RL

— Dr Alexandra Phelan (@alexandraphelan) January 23, 2020

Wuhan: Chinese scientists trace coronavirus to snakes; city placed under lockdown https://t.co/uiM4A8Je1K

— UPI.com (@UPI) January 23, 2020

And this

Scientists affiliated with UK-based universities have disputed a widely-circulated study pointing to snakes as the source of China’s deadly new coronavirus, saying that bats are more likely to be the real culprit. https://t.co/wGdfw2xUPK

— Caixin Global (@caixin) January 23, 2020

It’s a quickly developing story to say the leaat.

IMAGE SOURCE: Creative Commons