MEXICO CITY -- China's efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV has bought crucial time for other countries to get prepared, a Mexican infectious disease expert has said.

Alejandro Macias, Mexico's former national commissioner in charge of fighting the 2009 swine flu pandemic, said early this week that China has handled the virus outbreak with transparency and allotted the resources needed to prevent its spread.

"They are also working so that if this gets out of China, the rest of the world has some time to respond," said Macias, professor at the University of Guanajuato.

In China, measures have been put in place nationwide to curb the spread of the virus. In its efforts, the virus-hit central Chinese city of Wuhan has suspended local public transport means and banned non-essential motor vehicles from its downtown area.

China's health authorities reported 9,692 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus nationwide and resulting 213 deaths in total by the end of Thursday. A total of 171 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.