Death toll in coronavirus crosses 2,900 in China, global toll surges past 3,000

Beijing, March 2

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China has reported 42 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus outbreak, taking the death toll in the country to 2,912, Chinese health officials said on Monday, as the rapid spread of the epidemic wreaks havoc globally causing over 3,000 deaths and infecting more than 88,000 people.

The deadly virus that first emerged in China in December last year has spread to more than 70 countries and has infected more than 88,000 people, including over 80,000 in China.

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday it received reports of 202 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Sunday, taking the total number of cases in the mainland to 80,026.

The new cases are the lowest since January 22 when Beijing initiated emergency measures, including placing the worst-hit Wuhan city and 17 other cities with over 50 million people under lockdown.

Forty-two deaths were reported on Sunday in the virus-hit Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, the NHC said in its daily report.

The overall cases included 2,912 people who died of the disease, 32,652 patients who were still being treated and 44,462 patients discharged after recovery, it said.

The commission said 715 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

Hubei province and its capital Wuhan which remained the epicentres of the coronavirus outbreak reported 196 new confirmed cases.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,103 and that of total deaths to 2,803, including 2,227 fatalities in Wuhan, local health commission said.

Wuhan reported 193 confirmed cases and 32 deaths on Sunday. In total, the city has registered 49,315 confirmed cases. PTI