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Chinese coronavirus dangerous at 2 meter distance, expert says

The expert noted the virus might be transmitted by contact, if it gets in human eyes or on mucous membranes

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The 2019-nCoV coronavirus may be contagious at a two-meter distance, says National Health Commission expert Li Xingwang of Beijing Ditan Hospital.

"Everyone must wear protective masks and reduce the number of close contacts to as low as possible. By ‘close,’ we currently mean a distance of one to two meters - the infection may happen at this distance," says Chinese media quotes the expert as saying.

The expert also noted the virus might be transmitted by contact, if it gets in human eyes or on mucous membranes.

By Tuesday, 4547 Chinese nationals were infected with the new coronavirus. Of those, 106 cases were lethal. Infection cases were registered in almost every Chinese province, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The 2019-nCoV coronavirus-induced pneumonia has been detected in late December last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The virus has also been identified in Australia, Canada, Vietnam, Germany, Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Singapore, the US, Thailand, France, Japan and Sri-Lanka. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a national emergency in China, but so far has refrained from declaring an international one.