KARACHI, Pakistan

At least four Pakistani students studying in the Chinese city of Wuhan are suffering from the novel coronavirus, an official confirmed on Wednesday.

Prime ministerial health affairs adviser Zafar Mirza told reporters in the capital Islamabad that Pakistan was taking "full responsibility" and "taking care" of the students, and its other citizens based in China.

Over 500 Pakistani students are based in Wuhan, where the first cases of the coronavirus were observed in December.

The Chinese embassy in Islamabad said earlier this week that all Pakistani students in Wuhan, were "safe and sound," and well attended to.

Mirza underlined that there were no confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan so far, adding that the health of four people under observation who recently returned from China and were suspected of having the virus had improved significantly.

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus outbreak has climbed to 132, the National Health Commission said Wednesday.

Some 5,974 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, also known as 2019-nCoV, have been reported in China.

It was reported that a total of 9,239 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

The virus, which originated in Wuhan, has spread across 30 provinces in the country.

Tens of cases have also been reported in Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, France, Germany, Malaysia, Australia and Vietnam.