A spike in novel coronavirus in India has prompted concerns that the world's second-most populous country could face a serious outbreak of the virus, which to date has infected more than 95,000 people and killed at least 3,300 worldwide.

Twenty-nine cases have been confirmed inside the country, including three who have recovered. Many of the cases are linked to a group of travelers from Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said.

Authorities in the country have advised caution, but have not raised the alarm. Vardhan told lawmakers in parliament Tuesday that public health authorities are focusing on India's "core capacities for disease preparedness and response."

The government has begun screening all passengers arriving in the country for coronavirus.

"The scale and extent of our interventions have increased in alignment the evolving situation of COVID-19 across the world, and India in particular," he said, referring to the disease by its formal name. "With the increasing global spread of the disease, we are confronted with new challenges. The contact tracing of positive cases requires the tracing of hundreds of contacts in multiple locations and monitoring their health."

Vardhan also said the government was preparing a "containment plan" for the city of Agra -- home to the Taj Mahal -- where a cluster of cases has been identified.

The vast majority of cases, however, are still in mainland China. The country's National Health Commission (NHC) reported that as of the end of the day Wednesday, 3,012 people had died and 80,409 cases had been confirmed. More than 52,000 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital, per the NHC.