440 confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia reported in China

BEIJING- Chinese health authorities announced Wednesday that some 440 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported in 13 provinces in China by the end of Tuesday.

The cases had resulted in nine deaths, all in central China’s Hubei Province, said Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Altogether 149 new confirmed cases were reported Tuesday, Li added.

Overseas, one case has been confirmed in Japan, three in Thailand, and one in the Republic of Korea, the Chinese agency said.

A total of 2,197 close contacts have been traced, figures from the commission show. Among them, 1,394 are under medical observation while 765 others have been discharged.

As of Jan. 20, China had shared information about this virus with the World Health Organization (WHO), related countries and local authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan on 15 occasions, Li noted.