China has confirmed there has been human-to-human transmission of the deadly new coronavirus as a fourth person was confirmed to have died after being infected.
The head of a Chinese government expert team said two people in Guangdong province in southern China caught the virus from family members.
The development came after authorities announced a sharp uptick in the number of confirmed cases to more than 200.
China's leader called on the government to take every possible step to combat the outbreak.
"The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan and other places must be taken seriously," President Xi Jinping said in his first public statement on the crisis.
"Party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels should put people's lives and health first."
Four people are now confirmed to have died after being infected.
State media did not provide any details on the latest victim, nor was it clear if the latest death was a new case or one already diagnosed.
In Geneva, the World Health Organisation announced it would convene an Emergency Committee meeting on Wednesday to determine whether the outbreak warrants being declared a global health crisis.
Such declarations are typically made for epidemics of severe diseases that threaten to cross borders and require an internationally coordinated response.
Previous global emergencies have been declared for crises including the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo, the emergence of Zika virus in the Americas in 2016 and the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014.
The spread of the viral pneumonia comes as the country enters its busiest travel period, when millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays.
The outbreak is believed to have started late last month among people connected to a seafood market in Wuhan, a city in central China.
Wuhan health authorities said on Monday an additional 136 cases have been confirmed in the city, raising the total to 198.
Other Chinese cities also confirmed cases for the first time.
Five people in Beijing and 14 in Guangdong have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, CCTV reported Monday evening.
Seven suspected cases have been found in other parts of the country, including in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in the southwest and in Shanghai.
Team leader Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert, said the two people in Guangdong had not been to Wuhan but fell ill after family members had returned from the city, the China Daily reported.
Agencies contributed to this report
