More than 3,000 health workers in China have been infected with the emerging coronavirus, which appeared in the country late last year, an official with the Chinese National Health Committee said Monday.

Most cases have appeared in Hubei, the epicenter of the disease that has killed about 2,600 people on the mainland so far, said the official, Liang Wannian, at a joint press conference with the head of the WHO delegation in China, Boris Illward.

He added that injuries were likely due to a lack of protective equipment and fatigue.