Four Croatian citizens are currently in the Chinese city of Wuhan where the novel coronavirus was first detected, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry stated on Saturday, recommending delaying travel to that part of China.

Since the outbreak of this infectious disease in the Chinese province of Hubei at the end of 2019, 41 victims have died and also 1,300 have been infected across the world.

The Croatian ministry said in a press release for Hina on Saturday that currently there are four Croatians in Wuhan which has 11 million inhabitants.

A majority of patients who have contracted this virus and died were in the province Hubei, and local officials have imposed restrictions on movement and travel. At least 36 million people are living in the affected area, some of the cities in the province have suspended public transport amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Saturday is the first day of the Lunar New Year, however, festivities have been cancelled in Beijing, Hong Kong and other major cities to control the spread of the virus.

This past Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs advised Croatian citizens to exercise caution and obtain detailed information on the novel coronavirus outbreak before travelling to China. The Ministry advised strict adherence to the usual measures for reducing the risk of respiratory diseases and recommended closely following news from Chinese health authorities and the World Health Organization about the state of the virus outbreak and the preventative measures to be taken.

Cases of the disease have been reported in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Nepal, Vietnam and the United States, as well as in the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.