People wearing masks are pictured on the subway in Beijing
People wearing masks are pictured on the subway in BeijingReuters

The number of people infected with a new coronavirus has skyrocketed over the past week.

On Monday, nearly 2,800 cases had been reported, but on Tuesday that number jumped to 4,602.

The number of deaths has jumped as well: On Saturday, just 41 people had died of the virus, while on Monday 80 had died, and by Tuesday the number of dead reached 106.

According to Chinese media, just 63 people have successfully recovered from the virus.

BNO News reports that over 500 patients are in serious condition and nearly 130 are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, 14 people in Thailand and eight in Hong Kong have been diagnosed with the new virus, and Singapore has reported seven cases. The US and Australia have each reported five cases of the new coronavirus, while Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea have reported four cases each. France has seen three cases of the new virus, while Vietnam has two. Countries in which a single person has been diagnosed include Nepal, Canada, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Germany.

So far, no deaths have been reported outside China.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Very few cases reported in USA, but strongly on watch. We have offered China and President Xi any help that is necessary. Our experts are extraordinary!"

On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called on US citizens to "avoid all nonessential travel to all of" China.

On Sunday, China's Health Minister, Ma Xiaowei, warned that infected individuals are contagious before they begin to show symptoms of the disease.

The new coronavirus has been linked to rats and live wolf pups in the food market in Wuhan, China, where the virus is believed to have originated. Last week, China closed Wuhan to travel, in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

At first, it was believed that the novel coronavirus (2019 n-COV) was not transmissible between humans, and was limited to animal-human contact. However, authorities soon began seeing cases of people who had not traveled to Wuhan but had become infected by family members who had recently returned from traveling there.