Hong Kong declares highest alert level over coronavirus outbreak

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) declared a virus emergency for the coronavirus outbreak on Saturday. HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the decision to raise the response level at a press conference, in the latest effort to control the spread of the new virus. The government response was lifted to the emergency level, the highest in its three-tier system, after the serious level was activated three weeks ago. Several large-scale public events were cancelled. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started, has already been placed on lockdown.