Beijing, China - Feb 13, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Press conference in progress
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Mi Feng, spokesman, National Health Commission:
"Some patients had reported experiencing diarrhea or other gastrointestinal disorders in the early stage. They were confirmed with the infection after their stool samples showed positive results in nucleic acid detections or the virus was found in the samples, which suggests that the virus can multiply in the digestive tracts. Analysis to the clinical features of the cases shows that the most common clinical symptoms of the virus are still fever, fatigue and cough, no matter the digestive tract symptoms of the patients are incipient signs or syndromes. The detection of the virus in feces does not mean the main routes of transmission of the disease have changed. [The disease's main routes of transmission] are still respiratory droplets and contact. More investigation and research are needed to determine the role and significance of transmission along the digestive tracts, including the fecal-oral transmission."
3. Press conference in progress
4. Various of reporters
5. Press conference in progress

Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 29, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Medical staff members working in laboratory
7. Various of reagents

Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Feb 10, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of medical staff, patient at Huoshenshan Hospital
9. Medical staff reading x-ray film

The detection of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in feces of infected patients does not mean the main routes of transmission - respiratory droplets and contact - have changed, an official with China's National Health Commission said at a press conference on Thursday.

Mi Feng, spokesman of the commission made the remarks responding to a report by the Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Customs and the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of the Sun Yat-sen University that the COVID-19 was found in stool samples taken from infected patients.

"Some patients had reported experiencing diarrhea or other gastrointestinal disorders in the early stage. They were confirmed with the infection after their stool samples showed positive results in nucleic acid detections or the virus was found in the samples, which suggests that the virus can multiply in the digestive tracts. Analysis to the clinical features of the cases shows that the most common clinical symptoms of the virus are still fever, fatigue and cough, no matter the digestive tract symptoms of the patients are incipient signs or syndromes," said Mi.

He added that whether the new virus can be transmitted along the fecal-oral route is still unclear.

"The detection of the virus in feces does not mean the main routes of transmission of the disease have changed. [The disease's main routes of transmission] are still respiratory droplets and contact. More investigation and research are needed to determine the role and significance of transmission along the digestive tracts, including the fecal-oral transmission," said Mi.