Four dead, human transmission confirmed: new virus in China

A new virus that has spread rapidly across the most populated nation in the world and one of the rising economic superpowers has taken four lives as authorities confirmed that it can be passed from person-to-person.

An 89-year-old man was the latest victim of the new strain of coronavirus, which causes a type of pneumonia. He lived in Wuhan – the city at the center of the outbreak – 825km west of Shanghai.

At least 291 cases have now been reported across major cities in China, including the capital Beijing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering declaring an international public health emergency over the virus – as it did with swine flu and Ebola. The decision will be made in a meeting on Wednesday.

China’s National Health Commission on Monday confirmed for the first time that the infection could be transmitted from human-to-human. It said two people in Guangdong – a coastal province in south-east China – had been infected in this way.

(BBC)