The mayor of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of a viral outbreak that has killed over 80 people so far, told Chinese state television on Sunday that five million people left the metropolis before he imposed a travel lockdown last week. Scientists studying the new virus, believed to be part of the same family of coronaviruses as the one causing the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2003, believe it is highly contagious even before carriers show symptoms. The symptoms are similar to traditional signs of the flu, including cough, difficulty breathing, and fever. Reports indicate that Chinese authorities had reason to believe a viral outbreak had begun as early as a month ago, but they only made public the revelation that the outbreak was caused by a previously undetected virus last Monday. Zhou confirmed that the government indeed had information that should have triggered preventative public health measures earlier than his administration took them, lamenting the unsatisfactory government response to the outbreak. Mayor Zhou Xianwang offered to resign on Sunday if the Communist Party deemed it necessary. Zhou told CCTV , at a press conference where he wore a protective mask, that the five million who left largely did…