First suspected case of new virus in HKong

Hong Kong confirmed on Wednesday that a patient tested preliminarily positive for a new strain of virus which has killed nine people and thought to have infected 400 others in China.

A 39-year-old man from the Chinese province of Wuhan tested positive in two coronavirus exams after being treated for a fever following a high-speed train from mainland China.

The tests triggered quarantine procedures in Hong Kong, and he was moved to the infectious disease centre at Princess Margaret Hospital.

His case is not yet confirmed, but is "preliminary positive", according to a statement from Hong Kong's Health Secretary.

The number of new cases has risen sharply in China, the center of the outbreak.

There were 440 confirmed cases as of midnight Tuesday in 13 jurisdictions, according to the deputy director of the National Health Commission.

Nine people have died, all in Hubei province, since the outbreak emerged in its provincial capital of Wuhan late last month.