China expands lockdown against virus, fast-tracks hospital

BEIJING (AP) – China is expanding its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people and rushing to build a prefabricated, 1,000-bed hospital for victims as the outbreak cast a pall over Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest and most festive holiday. The number of confirmed cases around the world has climbed sharply to more than 850, with at least 25 deaths, all of them in China. The U.S. is reporting its second case, involving a Chicago woman in her 60s who was hospitalized after returning from China.