WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2020) There is no indication the coronavirus outbreak from China has affected US military personnel stationed abroad, Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said during a press briefing on Friday.
"Right now, we have no indications of outbreaks that would affect our personnel," Hoffman said.
US military and base commanders are closely monitoring the virus outbreak, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, Hoffman said.
The unknown type of viral pneumonia, which was first detected in late December, has recently been confirmed by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a new strain of the coronavirus, currently being labeled as 2019-nCoV or Novel Coronavirus. It has already killed 26 people and infected over 890 others in China.
Confirmed cases of the new coronavirus have also been recorded in the United States, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. However, the WHO said on Thursday that it was too early to declare a global emergency.
The Chinese authorities have taken drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus, including by imposing curfews and restricting travel for up to 44 million people in central China's major cities on the eve of Chinese New Year.
