Mystery ‘pneumonia’ hits China’s Wuhan city; 27 hospitalised with 7 in serious condition

Health authorities are looking into nearly 30 cases of “unknown pneumonia” in central China’s Wuhan city on Tuesday.
State television reported that a team of experts from the National Health Commission had arrived in Wuhan to lead the investigation into the nature of the disease, while People’s Daily, quoting local hospital sources, said the exact cause remained unclear and it would be premature to speculate.
Mainland media were alerted to the outbreak after a notice from the city health department went viral on social media on Monday night. The note instructed hospitals to report further cases, which led to some comparisons on social media with the outbreak of SARS, an acute respiratory illness which killed hundreds of people in China in the early 2000s.