New Delhi (NVI): China has confirmed 139 new cases of coronavirus in Wuhan, Beijing and Shenzen over the past two days, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This is the first time that novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases have been reported outside Wuhan, where the virus was first identified.
The spread of virus was reported by the WHO in a tweet today. “China has reported to WHO 139 new cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, Beijing and Shenzhen over the past two days. This is the result of increased searching and testing for 2019-nCoV among people sick with respiratory illness,” the global health organisation said in a tweet.
Health authorities in Beijing confirmed two cases of the new coronavirus on Monday. Guangdong authorities reported one case in Shenzhen. This is the first confirmation from authorities that the mysterious virus has spread domestically beyond the central city of Wuhan.
All three patients are believed to have visited Wuhan, according to authorities.
Last week, three cases were detected outside 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.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. 2019-nCoV is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
The WHO has provided advice to countries on how to identify people sick with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), how to care for them, and how to prevent spread.
