Inside his military retirement home, Albert Bryant Sr. spends his days quarantined with his wife in their two-bedroom apartment, watching CNN from his brown leather recliner. He knows he is witnessing history, as the country fights a virus killing tens of thousands around the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stepped in to order faster response to a fast-spreading novel coronavirus, with authorities deploying military doctors and locking down more cities to contain an outbreak that's now on four continents.