Breastfeeding mothers do not seem to be passing on the new coronavirus to their infants, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert said, according to Reuters.

“So far we have not been able to detect live virus in breast milk,” Anshu Banerjee, the senior adviser for WHO's Department of Reproductive Health and Research, told a press conference.

“So the risk of transmission from mother to child so far has not been established,” he said, adding that only 'fragments' of the virus had been found in breast milk.