Health care members make first aid to people as they cover their faces with sanitary masks after the first cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Hong Kong.

President Xi Jinping on Saturday warned that the spread of the coronavirus presents a "grave situation," as officials from central China to Hong Kong struggle to stop the spread of the disease that has so far infected more than 1,400 people worldwide and killed 42.

"Life is of paramount importance. When an epidemic breaks out, a command is issued. It is our responsibility to prevent and control it," Xi said at a meeting of the leaders of the Communist Party of China, according to state-run outlet Xinhua News Agency.



The party meeting, chaired by Xi, set up a central committee to oversee work to contain the virus, according to Xinhua. Groups will be sent to Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, to work directly on the ground. Xi ordered all levels of government to "put people's life and health as top priority," according to Xinhua.

China has already quarantined multiple cities, encompassing about 35 million people, to try to contain the spread ⁠of the virus.