MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The new type of coronavirus will reach its peak infection rate in China in about 7-10 days, Zhong Nanshan, head of the team of experts established by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, stated on Tuesday.
"The coronavirus will reach its peak infection rate in 7-10 days, however, the epidemic will not be of a widespread nature," the Xinhua agency quotes Zhong Nanshan as saying.
"Of course, it’s hard to predict when the virus will reach its peak, however, I think that it will happen in a week or in about 10 days," Nanshan added.
The expert noted that a mass epidemic of the virus in China is unlikely. He assured that mass population movement after the end of holidays timed to the Chinese New Year would not lead to an increase in infected persons, as officials all across the country are working on detecting the infected.
On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan - a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. On January 7, Chinese experts identified the infecting agent: coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
According to recent data, over 4,600 people have been infected with the virus, with 106 people dead. The virus continues to spread in China and other states, including Australia, Vietnam, Italy, Germany, Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the USA, Thailand, France, Sri Lanka and Japan. The WHO recognized the pneumonia outbreak in China as a national emergency but stopped short of declaring an international one.