Lizhen Wang,1 Yueting Duan,1 Wenming Zhang,2 Juan Liang,2 Jianxiang Xu,3 Yongqing Zhang,3 Changgang Wu,3 Yangling Xu,3 Hua Li2 1Department of Tuberculosis, Liaocheng Infectious Disease Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2Intensive Care Unit, Liaocheng Infectious Disease Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Respiration, Liaocheng Infectious Disease Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hua LiDepartment of Respiration, Liaocheng Infectious Disease Hospital, 45 Jianshe Eastern Road, Dongchang, Liaocheng, Shandong 252000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail weiyichunguang@163.comIntroduction: Over 40,000 cases of coronavirus (CoV) disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been confirmed in China. The causative agent, 2019 novel CoV (2019-nCoV), has spread rapidly to more than 25 countries worldwide. Human-to-human transmission has accounted for most of the infections outside Wuhan. Most studies to date on COVID-19 have focused on disease etiology and the genomics of 2019-nCoV, with few reports on the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of infected patients.Methods: We report early clinical features of 26 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to Liaocheng Infectious Disease Hospital in Shandong Province.Results: The median age of the 26 patients with COVID-19 in this study was 42 years. The most common occupation was retail staff (16 patients, 61.54%), with 11 patients or their family members working at the same supermarket. Only 2 patients had visited Wuhan since December 2019; the other cases of 2019-nCoV infection arose from patient-to-patient transmission. Twelve patients had more than one sign or symptom; however, seven patients had no sign or symptom. The average time from symptom onset to admission was 4.5 days. CT revealed signs of bronchitis in 2 patients and unilateral and bilateral pneumonia in 9 and 15 patients, respectively. The patients received the following treatments: antiviral therapy (100%), Chinese medicine (76.92%), antibiotics (50%), gastric mucosal protection (19.23%), immunotherapy (7.69%), and glucocorticoids (3.85%). Most patients (25/26) required ≥ 1 treatment.Discussion: In contrast to previous reports, most patients (24/26) had not been in close contact with individuals from Wuhan. Additionally, 11 patients or their family members worked at the same supermarket, suggesting active viral transmission in a location frequented by a large number of people. Close monitoring is essential for preventing the large-scale spread of the virus in such places.Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019, human-to-human transmission, epidemiologic characteristics, clinical characteristics