CHINESE officials have warned of a fatal "unknown pneumonia" with a death rate higher than the coronavirus COVID-19 which is spreading across an Asian country,

Areas in Kazakhstan have seen major spikes in cases of the disease since mid-June. The country’s Health Ministry said it recorded more than 32,000 cases of a previously unknown type of pneumonia between 29 June and 5 July with 451 deaths.

The Chinese embassy in Kazakhstan said the country saw 1,772 deaths in the first half of the year some of whom were Chinese nationals.

They describe the illness as an “unknown pneumonia” and, in a warning to Chinese citizens in Kazakhstan, embassy officials said: “The death rate of this disease is much higher than the novel coronavirus.

“The country’s health departments are conducting comparative research into the pneumonia virus, but have yet to identify the virus.”

Chinese nationals have been urged to protect themselves in the same way as they have done with coronavirus.

COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, and has infected more than 12 million people across the world.

It has put most countries in lockdown and forced people to wear face masks, practice social distancing and thoroughly wash their hands often.

Saul Kisikova, health care department chief in Kazakhstan’s capital spoke to the state’s news agency Kazinform.

He said: “Some 300 people diagnosed with pneumonia are being hospitalised every day.

Ayzhan Esmagambetova, chief sanitary officer, reportedly said the mortality rate from pneumonia has increased in June by four times in Kazakhstan.

The figures were compared to the same time last year.

She said many people who have fallen ill were not diagnosed with COVID-19.

In Kazakhstan, there are 53,021 cases of COVID-19 and 264 deaths from coronavirus.

The country went into lockdown on 16 March.

They later lifted many of their restrictions on 11 May.

On Sunday, the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev imposed a second round of restrictions after a surge of COVID-19 cases hit Kazakhstan.

On Thursday, 1,962 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Kazakhstan.

This is the country’s highest-single day increase.

President Tokayev said the nation was “in fact facing the second coronavirus wave coupled with a huge uptick in pneumonia cases”.

Pneumonia is an infection in one or both lungs.

In China, there have been 85,399 reported cases of Covid-19.