Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 26, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of medical workers, patients in ward

Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, south China - Feb 2, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhong Nanshan, academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering (starting with shot 1):
"There is the possibility [that the virus could spread via fecal-oral route], because we have detected the virus in patients' feces. We have to stay highly alert in case that the virus could spread through feces."

Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 26, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of medical workers from Army Medical University working together with staff in Jinyintan hospital

Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, south China - Feb 2, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhong Nanshan, academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering:
"First, we should conduct investigations to make sure the number of the patients whose feces carry the virus. We should take one step at a time and the first step is to confirm the existence of the virus [in feces]. Then we need to find out the amount of the virus that the feces could carry, which is also an important question. The preliminary study has not found the virus in patients' urine, but we should still pay attention to the feces."

Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 24-25, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of nurses preparing IV, serving residents at hospital reception desk

Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, south China - Feb 2, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhong Nanshan, academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering:
"At present the number is rising, which may continue for a certain period of time. But I believe it will not last long."

Huangshi City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 28, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of nurses, residents at hospital hall

Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 28, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of boxes of face masks
9. Residential building
10. Various of community workers working

Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, south China - Feb 2, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhong Nanshan, academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering:
"It is highly important for the communities to take prevention measures, because at present, it is not enough to solely depend on the efforts of the government. In the community, people could supervise each other, and remind each other to wear masks and ventilate the rooms, which in a sense may play a decisive role."

Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 28, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of doctors holding meeting

More investigations are needed to confirm the fecal-oral transmission of novel coronavirus, according to Zhong Nanshan, academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering on Sunday.

Chinese experts have found the viral nucleic acids in patients' stool and rectal swabs after they noticed that the initial symptom of some patients infected with the coronavirus was diarrhea only, instead of a fever, which is more common.

The latest findings resulted from joint research by experts from the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China's top research bodies in natural sciences.

Zhong said there is possibility that the virus could spread through fecal-oral route and warned people to stay alert.

"There is the possibility [that the virus could spread via fecal-oral route], because we have detected the virus in patients' feces. We have to stay highly alert in case that the virus could spread through feces," said Zhong.

He said the researchers will take further investigations to confirm the fecal-oral transmission of the novel coronavirus.

"First, we should conduct investigations to make sure the number of the patients whose feces carry the virus. We should take one step at a time and the first step is to confirm the existence of the virus [in feces]. Then we need to find out the amount of the virus that the feces could carry, which is also an important question. The preliminary study has not found the virus in patients' urine, but we should still pay attention to the feces," said Zhong.

As the number of confirmed cases keeps rising recently, Zhong said the growth could last for a period of time but not long.

"At present the number is rising, which may continue for a certain period of time. But I believe it will not last long," said Zhong.

Now many communities in China are taking active measures to curb the spread of the virus, which Zhong said is a very significant move.

"It is highly important for the communities to take prevention measures, because at present, it is not enough to solely depend on the efforts of the government. In the community, people could supervise each other, and remind each other to wear masks and ventilate the rooms, which in a sense may play a decisive role," said Zhong.