Facing growing pressure to contain a deadly viral outbreak that has spread halfway around the world, China’s ruling Communist Party raced on Tuesday to confront the disease, slapping restrictions on the city where it started and warning that anyone who hides infections will be “forever nailed to history’s pillar of shame.” The response by the Chinese leadership, which has come under intensifying criticism that it has been slow to acknowledge the severity of the outbreak, came as fatalities from the disease doubled to at least six. Infections surged overnight from 200 to 300, and global financial markets were rattled by the possibility of a pandemic emanating from the world’s most populous country during the Lunar New Year — Asia’s heaviest travel season. Already, cases of the pneumonialike virus have also been confirmed in the United States , Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and South Korea. Airports […]