The toll in the novel coronavirus outbreak in China rose to four on Tuesday after an 89-year-old man from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province died, AP reported. Wuhan is believed to be the epicentre of the outbreak.

The number of infections has also risen sharply. Chinese authorities said 291 people were infected with the virus as on Tuesday, AFP reported. Of those, 270 cases were from Hubei province, and 21 cases were recorded in six other cities – Beijing, Shanghai and four in Guangdong province. There have been almost 80 new confirmed cases, with more than 900 people still under medical observation, said the National Health Commission. One case has been confirmed in Japan, two in Thailand, and one in South Korea.

The coronavirus has already spread to 20 other cities in China, according to a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong, South China Morning Post reported. Wuhan has adopted measures to control the flow of people leaving the city, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press conference. Suspected cases have been reported from Shanghai and other parts of the country. Chinese President Xi Jinping asked government departments to release information on the virus.

Screening passengers from China

Meanwhile, more countries stepped up medical screening of travellers from China, particularly those from Wuhan. The outbreak has cast a shadow over Lunar New Year celebrations. Hundreds of millions of people in China are expected to travel over the course of the new year period, both within the country and overseas.

India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said it had received an advisory from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare about the virus. Airports in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai will screen passengers from China at pre-immigration counters, which will be installed with thermal cameras, reported ANI.

Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said his country would increase airport screening. Countries such as Japan and South Korea, and the special Chinese administrative region of Hong Kong also implemented stricter screening measures. At least three airports in the United States have started checking passengers from central China.

These measures were adopted after China confirmed that the novel coronavirus can spread from one human to another. Chinese scientist Zhong Nanshan, who had helped uncover the scale of the SARS outbreak in 2002-’03 that killed 774 people, said the new virus was contagious. “Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission,” Zhong told state-owned CCTV on Monday, according to AFP. Zhong, who works at the country’s National Health Commission, said human-to-human transmission was behind at least one confirmed case in Wuhan, and the infections in two families in Guangdong province.

The coronavirus is part of same family as the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome. Symptoms range from fever and coughing to kidney failure, and in some cases lead to death.