KYODO NEWS – Jan 01 , 2020 . 4 hours ago – 09:50

BEIJING – Confirmed cases of infections from a new pneumonia-causing coronavirus raging in China have topped 10,000, the country’s health authorities said Saturday.

The number of infections rose 2,102 to 11,791 in mainland China with 259 deaths, up 46, they said.

The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.”

Chinese media reported Thursday that the number of patients confirmed to be infected with the new virus exceeded the level of SARS virus infections during its 2002-2003 spread.

The SARS pandemic sickened 8,098 people and killed 774 worldwide. Its fatality rate of around 10 percent was higher than that of the new coronavirus, which has resulted in death for roughly 2 percent of infected patients so far.

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

But some types lead to more serious, sometimes deadly respiratory diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome or Middle East respiratory syndrome, known as SARS and MERS, respectively.

Zhong Nanshan, head of a high-level expert team in China’s government-run National Health Commission, was quoted Wednesday by the state-run Xinhua News Agency as saying the new coronavirus originated in bats.

The Chinese pulmonologist, who combated the SARS epidemic, said the new coronavirus has the same origin as a virus found in a type of bat in 2017, the news agency reported.

The new coronavirus, known to be transmitted between humans, has already spread to other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, as well as North America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

Medical experts have called on people to avoid crowds, wash their hands, gargle and wear masks when outside, as influenza and colds are common in this period.

CR: KYODO NEWS