Online car-hailing services will be suspended starting from Feb 9 in Haikou and Sanya, two major cities of China's southernmost Hainan province, to cope with the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia and better safeguard people's health and life, according to local transportation authorities.

The Haikou Headquarters of Prevention and Control of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia issued a notice Saturday saying online car booking services will be suspended in the provincial capital starting from midnight on Feb 9, to effectively prevent and control of the epidemic.

It said passengers wearing no protective masks will not be allowed to take public transportation vehicles such as buses, taxis, trains, ships, airplanes or enter public places such as ticket halls, waiting rooms at airports and ports.

Passengers were asked to pay through such electronic means such as Alipay and WeChat when they take a bus or patrol a taxi, as a step to prevent the spread of the virus through cash and coins and facilitate disease control departments to track passengers' information when necessary.

Illegal operation of private cars and electric bicycles to carry passengers is strictly prohibited and violators will be given top penalty according to law.

The Municipal Transportation Bureau of Sanya, a tourist coastal city at the southern tip of Hainan Island, also issued a similar notice on Feb, announcing the suspension of online car-hailing services starting from today.

As of midnight on Feb 8, the island province had reported 128 confirmed cases of pneumonia, 16 in serious condition, two deaths and 15 discharge cases, with 1,443 undergoing home-based or centralized medical observation, according to the provincial health commission.

On Jan 25, Hainan launched a top-level public health emergency response to the NCP epidemic.