Underscoring fears that the virus could spread further, overseas Chinese tour groups will be suspended from Monday while domestic trips have already been halted.
Beijing will suspend long-distance bus service entering and leaving the capital of 20 million people from Sunday due to "requirements of epidemic prevention and control," the official People's Daily newspaper reported.
The National Health Commission also ordered nationwide measures to detect and isolate people carrying the virus on planes, trains and buses across the country.
Xinhua said Saturday that temperature screening checkpoints have been set up in 387 railway stations across the country.
Meanwhile, tourists from Hubei in Haikou, capital of the island province of Hainan, were told by the city government they had to spend 14 days in a hotel for centralised medical observation, and were forbidden to leave.
- Hong Kong schools close -
Beijing's Forbidden City, Shanghai Disneyland and a section of the Great Wall are among many attractions that have closed as a precaution. China's box-office film earnings for Lunar New Year's Eve on Friday were just one-tenth of last year's as people shunned crowds.
Xi chaired a Communist Party leadership meeting which urged regional governments to make "the safety of the masses' lives and their physical health a top priority", state media said.
Xinhua said the Standing Committee agreed to set up a working group that would visit Hubei.
In Hong Kong, where five people have tested positive for the virus so far, city leader Carrie Lam declared the situation an "emergency" and schools, currently on holiday, will remain closed until February 17.
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