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Coronavirus found in China is expanding 1:15
Hong Kong (CNN) - The new coronavirus strain that causes pneumonia is strengthening and can be transmitted among humans, said the director of China's National Center for Clinical Research for Respiratory Diseases, Zhong Nanshan, in an interview with Chinese state CCTV .
"I went to Wuhan yesterday, and the situations of the day before yesterday, yesterday and today are different, and the development of the regional epidemic is very fast," Zhong said.
Zhong, who helped discover the SARS virus in 2003, is now the head of a team of high-level experts established by the National Health Commission to investigate the outbreak of Wuhan's coronavirus.
"Current cases show that there is definitely a person-to-person transmission," Zhong said, explaining one of the reasons why there was an increase in cases over the weekend.
"One is that there is evidence of person-to-person transmission in Wuhan, and the second is that in a family in Guangdong, two people who have not been in Wuhan were infected from a family member returned from Wuhan."
He added that the infectivity of this virus is not as strong as that of SARS, but that the disease is in the initial stage and "is increasing," and "the mortality rate at this time is not as representative." Therefore, we must be cautious. ”
The medical staff is also infected, he said, and urged people not to go to Wuhan if it is not necessary. In another interview with Chinese media on Monday, Zhong said a patient has infected 14 doctors.
Although the exact source of the virus is still unclear, Zhong said preliminary research shows that it could come from wild animals sold in a seafood market, and "the most likely are animals such as rats and bamboo badgers."
China has reported 139 new cases of pneumonia caused by a new strain of coronavirus, including a third death, as the outbreak spreads beyond the city where the virus was first identified.
The health authorities in Beijing confirmed on Monday two cases of the new coronavirus, while the Guangdong authorities reported a case in Shenzhen, the first confirmation from the authorities that the mysterious virus has spread nationwide beyond the central city from Wuhan. It is believed that the three patients visited Wuhan, according to authorities.
LOOK: The coronavirus spreads to Beijing and there are 139 new cases confirmed by China over the weekend
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission announced on Monday that 136 new patients were diagnosed on Saturday and Sunday.
Of them, one person died from the virus, two are in critical condition and 33 are in serious condition, according to authorities.
The new cases have brought the total number of people in China diagnosed with the virus to 201, a significant jump from 62 reported over the weekend.
Local authorities have also begun to report suspected infections. On Monday morning, health authorities in Shenzhen, on the other side of the Hong Kong border, said they are monitoring eight patients who have been quarantined for treatment. In the coastal province of Zhejiang, authorities reported five suspicious cases that visited Wuhan.
The spread of the outbreak occurs as the country prepares for the Lunar New Year vacations later this week. On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was evidence of a "limited person-to-person transmission" of the new virus, generating fears of a broader regional outbreak. In the holiday period, usually hundreds of millions of Chinese travel throughout the country and abroad.
Last week, three cases were detected outside of China: two in Thailand and one in Japan. All cases have been linked to Wuhan. On Monday, South Korea also confirmed its first case of the virus.
MIRA: The new coronavirus discovered in China was detected in other countries
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in South Korea (CDC), a 35-year-old Chinese woman was diagnosed arriving on Sunday at Seoul Incheon International Airport from Wuhan. She has been quarantined and is in a stable condition, the CDC said.
The woman, a resident of Wuhan, had planned to go on vacation to South Korea and Japan with five other people. He said he developed fever and muscle aches on Saturday and that a doctor in Wuhan prescribed cold medications, according to the CDC.
It is estimated that almost 7 million Chinese traveled abroad last year during the Lunar New Year holiday season.
"I think that Chinese tourists will take the virus to many other countries in Asia in the coming days, due to their trips abroad during the Lunar New Year holidays," Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, breathing expert at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The pneumonia outbreak emerged last month in Wuhan, the largest city in central China and a major transportation hub. Authorities in China have linked viral infections with a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan, which has been closed since January 1 to prevent further spread of the disease.
On January 8, Chinese scientists identified the pathogen as a new strain of coronavirus, in the same family of severe acute and fatal SARS respiratory syndrome.
While the new virus has not shown mortality rates such as SARS, which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic that swept through Asia in 2002 and 2003, a new study by Imperial College London suggests that it is possible that The amount of infections in Wuhan has been underestimated.
LOOK: The threat of the coronavirus
“The detection of three cases outside of China is worrisome. We calculate, based on flight and population data, that there is only a 1 in 574 chance of an infected person in Wuhan traveling abroad before seeking medical attention. This implies that there could have been more than 1,700 cases in Wuhan so far, ”Neil Ferguson, a disease outbreak scientist at Imperial College London, told CNN.
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA. UU. announced that three US airports The US, in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, will begin to examine passengers arriving from Wuhan to detect signs of the new virus, following similar measures taken by governments in Asia.
In Wuhan, infrared thermometers were installed at the airport, train stations, bus terminals and passenger docks to measure the temperature of passengers leaving the city since January 14, said Chen Xiexin, deputy mayor of Wuhan, according to State media of China.
The measures were only imposed five weeks after the start of the outbreak, and countless passengers left the city without being examined.
Eric Cheung, Yoonjung Seo and Angela Dewan of CNN contributed to this report. From Yong Xiong of CNN in Beijing. And written by Hira Humayun of CNN in Atlanta