Person-to-Person Spread of Novel Coronavirus Confirmed in China

The number of cases spikes as the World Health Organization plans an emergency meeting on containing the epidemic.

Written byShawna Williams

| 3 min read

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ABOVE: Passengers wait in a train station in Wuhan in 2012
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China’s National Health Commission said today (January 21) that the number of confirmed infections of a newly identified coronavirus has risen to 291 in the country, the Associated Press reports, and six people have died from the pneumonia-like illness it causes. Chinese officials now say that confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission of the virus have taken place.

Meanwhile, cases of infection with the virus, known as 2019-nCoV, have also been reported in travelers from China to other countries, including Japan and Thailand, and the US Centers for Disease Control announced a case in Washington state. The flurry of news comes at the start of the world’s largest human migration, in which millions of people travel across China to spend Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, with their families.

“The outbreak is ...

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Meet the Author

Shawna Williams
Shawna was an editor at The Scientist from 2017 through 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Colorado College and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Previously, she worked as a freelance editor and writer, and in the communications offices of several academic research institutions. As news director, Shawna assigned and edited news, opinion, and in-depth feature articles for the website on all aspects of the life sciences. She is based in central Washington State, and is a member of the Northwest Science Writers Association and the National Association of Science Writers.
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