Coronavirus death toll rises to 1,669 as China reports 142 new fatalities

BEIJING, Feb 16, 2020, SCMP. Mainland China on Sunday reported 2,009 new coronavirus infections, with 142 new deaths, taking its totals to to 68,500 and 1,665 respectively, South China Morning Post reported.

The numbers, for Saturday, included 139 deaths in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak – the same as the previous day. The central province also accounted for 1,843 of the newly confirmed cases, with 1,548 of those in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the outbreak was believed to have started at a seafood and meat market in December.

Hubei’s new infections – down from the previous day, when it reported 2,420 – took its total to 56,249, with 1,596 deaths. The province had on Thursday begun including cases identified by clinical diagnosis, having previously counted only positive results from test kits, which have been in short supply.

70 more infections on cruise ship

The number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which remains quarantined in a dock in Yokohama, Japan, has risen to 355, up 70 from the last government count, the country’s health minister said on Sunday.

Jodi Xu Klein is an award-winning business journalist with 20 years of experience. She joined the Post in 2017, after a decade based in the US reporting for The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. She was part of the Time Magazine team that won the Henry R. Luce Award, breaking the China SARS story.