China's National Health Commission said on Wednesday 440 people in 13 Chinese provinces were confirmed to be infected with a new coronavirus as of Tuesday, with nine deaths, and that there was evidence of respiratory transmission from patient to patient.
The number of cases compares with the total of over 300 reported earlier as of Tuesday. Li Bin, vice minister of the commission, also told a media briefing that live animals were not allowed to enter Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the outbreak originated.
A Chinese physician who was investigating the outbreak of the new coronavirus in central China says he has himself been infected. Wang Guangfa, who heads the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Beijing`s Peking University First Hospital, was part of a team of experts that earlier this month visited Wuhan, where the virus emerged.
"I was diagnosed and my condition is fine," Wang told Kong`s Cable TV on Tuesday, thanking people for their concern. Wang, who conducted research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, said he was receiving treatment and would receive an injection soon. He did not give details on how he may have been infected.
"I don`t want everyone to put too much attention on my condition," he told the channel. Wang told state media on January 10 that the outbreak appeared to be under control, with most patients showing mild symptoms and some having been discharged. He could not be reached by Reuters on Tuesday.
