Jan 21 , 2020. 09:07 – KYODO NEWS

BEIJING – Health authorities in the central China city of Wuhan said Tuesday that a fourth person has died of pneumonia caused by a new coronavirus, hours after state-run media reported that cases of human-to-human transmission have been confirmed.

An expert team from China’s National Health Commission has said the virus has been transmitted person to person, the country’s official Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday night.

Zhong Nanshan, head of the team in the government-run organization, said in a TV interview that medical professionals have also been infected.

The Chinese pulmonologist contributed to discovering a virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

The World Health Organization, meanwhile, announced Monday that it will hold an emergency committee meeting later this week in Geneva to discuss how to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

As many Chinese citizens are expected to travel at home and abroad during the Lunar New Year holidays, which start later this week, it is feared the infection may spread.

Health authorities in Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak is believed to have originated, have said the risk of continued human-to-human infection is relatively low and preventable, and can be contained.

But the authorities in the city, located around 1,000 kilometers south of Beijing, have not held a press conference, triggering accusations they may be withholding information.

Coronaviruses usually cause common-cold symptoms affecting the nose, sinuses or upper throat, and are spread through sneezing, coughing or direct contact.

As of the end of Monday, around 220 people were confirmed to have been infected with the new coronavirus in cities and provinces in China, including Beijing and Shanghai, reminiscent of the 2003 SARS epidemic.

SARS, possibly originating in bats, emerged that year and raged in China and then spread worldwide, killing 774 people.

Elsewhere in Asia, Thailand and South Korea have detected infections since earlier this year, while Japan last week reported its first case of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus.

CR: KYODO NEWS