The new Chinese lung virus can be transmitted from person to person. A Chinese expert has confirmed this on state television.

In China, more than 200 people have already been infected with the unknown variant of the coronavirus that causes lung disease. Medical care providers have also become infected. A third fatal victim has also fallen.

The Chinese expert leading the team investigating the mysterious new virus has confirmed on the Chinese state television that the virus is transmissible from person to person.

Two people in southern China got the disease through contact with family members, says the scientist, who was also involved in 2003 in evaluating the magnitude of the SARS epidemic. He said that medical care providers have also become infected in the meantime.

In the meantime, 218 infections have been reported in China. Most in Wuhan, a city with 11 million inhabitants and an important transit point for movements within China.

In Beijing, for the first time, two people were found to be infected with the disease, and in the city of Shenzen, which rubs against Hong Kong, the virus was diagnosed in someone. The three people had also recently visited Wuhan.

“The life and health of the population must be given absolute priority and the spread of the virus must be restrained,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said earlier today.