Number of coronavirus dead in China nearly doubles to 17
The virus, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, was discovered in the metropolis of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, in late December.
Chinese officials had earlier counted 470 people infected across the country, with concerns that the number could spiral in the days ahead, when hundreds of thousands are expected to travel from major cities to family homesteads for the Lunar New Year celebration.
Incidents of the disease have also been reported in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States, as well as in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.
The World Health Organization in Geneva is expected to convene a meeting on Wednesday evening to determine whether the outbreak constitutes a health emergency of international concern.
Several countries increased border health checks to guard against the disease's spread.
North Korea has temporarily closed its border to all foreign tourists in response to the outbreak, according to a travel agency that operates tours to the country.
Russia announced it had increased health controls at all its border checkpoints, not only with China, due to fears over the virus.
Britain said also that it was increasing monitoring for all direct flights from China, similar to measures now in place in the United States.
The new coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a disease that killed 800 people globally in a 2002-03 pandemic that also started in China.
Scientists in China said the new coronavirus may have been transmitted during the illegal trade of wild animals.
Gao Fu, the director of China's Disease Control and Prevention Center and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told journalists the virus is believed to have originated at a market in Wuhan, from where it mutated and became transmissible from person to person.
"From what we know, the source was the wild animals sold at the seafood market," Gao said. "The virus of this wild animal is gradually mutating."
The SARS coronavirus is believed to have been transmitted by civet cats, a type of wild animal that is considered a delicacy in parts of China.
Authorities did not say what animal they suspected the new coronavirus came from.
Face masks were rapidly selling out in major Chinese cities on Wednesday, following Chinese authorities' announcement earlier in the week that the coronavirus was transmittable from person to person.
Authorities are asking people to avoid travelling to Wuhan - a city with an estimated population of some 11 million people - if possible.
The city on Tuesday said it had installed infrared thermometers at airports, railway and bus stations and was disinfecting public transport vehicles daily.
