(Yicai  Global) Feb. 11 -- The Chinese government will not force factories to  shut down just because a staffer contracts the novel coronavirus that  has claimed over 1,000 lives to date, according to a senior official at  the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The  government will deal with the situation case by case, He Qinghua said  in a press briefing today, adding that action will only be taken if the  patients are found in later stages of the infection and have already  infected others. 

Those in the early stages will be put into isolated and monitored, He said.