Secondary multiple infections reported in East China

Cases of one confirmed novel coronavirus patient infecting multiple people have recently been reported in two provinces on the Chinese mainland.

Xuzhou of East China's Jiangsu province reported 19 confirmed cases from 10 am Thursday to 5 pm Friday. The city's center for disease control and prevention said in Suining county 10 patients had close contact with one person.

Its neighboring city Suqian has given emergency warnings to locals to avoid going to Suining, China Central Television reported.

Xinyu of East China's Jiangxi province reported 15 of its 17 newly confirmed cases on Thursday had close contact with a local hospital worker.

The 43-year-old worker, surnamed Huang, was in critical condition three days after he showed symptoms. Among the 15 people he infected, 13 worked for different local hospitals.