BEIJING -- China reported Monday a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak coincides with the country's busiest travel period, as millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays. Two individuals in Beijing and one in the southern city of Shenzhen have also been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, health commissions in the respective cities said Monday. Authorities in Thailand and in Japan have already identified at least three cases, all involving recent travel from China. SARS first infected people in southern China in late 2002 and spread to more than two dozen countries, killing nearly 800.

Source: Fox News January 20, 2020 06:22 UTC