A police officer and medical workers check the body temperature of passengers onboard a flight at Putuoshan Airport in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, Jan 28, 2020. [Photo by Zou Xunyong/for China Daily]

Elderly people with chronic diseases are still the group most vulnerable to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, despite some instances of infant patients, a senior public health expert said on Wednesday.

"Based on disease monitoring results, some children and infant cases have been identified, but their syndrome and conditions are milder," Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference. "Most serious cases are the middle aged and the elderly. Based on current discovery, elderly people with chronic diseases face higher risk of serious illness if infected with the virus."

It is suggested protection be intensified for children and the elderly during disease control and prevention, especially in areas worse hit by the outbreak, he said.

Elderly people should minimize appearing in public places, including taking public transport, and wear masks if they have to go outside, he said.

During the initial period of the outbreak of the virus, which was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, some experts believed young people and minors were not sensitive to the virus, as almost all cases were elderly and middle-aged.