UPDATE 1-Kazakhstan suspends transport links with China over virus

Kazakhstan is suspending all forms of passenger travel to and from neighboring China, the Central Asian nation's government said on Wednesday as an outbreak of a new coronavirus continued to widen.

The government has also suspended the issuance of visas to Chinese citizens, it said in a statement. Bus routes to and from China have already been halted, while passenger train movement will stop on Feb. 1 and all flights will be suspended from Feb. 3, the government said.

Kazakhstan has registered no cases of the new virus, but has isolated dozens of people with respiratory infection symptoms upon return from China and is carrying out additional tests.