BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2020) The number of confirmed cases of a new form of coronavirus in China has risen to 324, China's National Health Commission said on Wednesday, adding that the virus has been reported in 14 cities and provinces.
"As of 07:00 on January 22 [23:00 Tuesday GMT], 324 cases of infection have been registered in 14 provinces and cities of the country," health officials said.
According to the health commission's figures, 270 cases have been reported in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak which has been concentrated in the city of Wuhan. Additionally, there are 17 confirmed cases in Guangdong province, ten in the city of Beijing and six in the city of Shanghai, the commission reported, with isolated instances of the virus confirmed in a number of other regions.�
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization stated that a total of 282 confirmed cases of a new form of coronavirus have been reported, 278 of them in China. Cases of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus have been reported in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
China's National Health Commission confirmed on Monday that the new virus can be transmitted from human to human. Previously, it was thought that the virus could only be contracted from exposure to sick animals.
