Coronavirus: Death toll rises to 723 in China; US woman, Japanese man first foreigners to die

Beijing, Feb 08: The death toll in China due to coronavirus continues to go up as it jumped to 723 on Saturday, while the number of confirmed cases rose to 34,598, Chinese health authorities announced on Saturday. An American woman and a Japanese man became the first foreigners to have died from the new coronavirus in China today.

Eighty-six deaths were reported from mainland China, with 3,399 cases on Friday from 31 provincial-level regions, the National Health Commission said.

Among the deaths, 81 are in Hubei province and its provincial capital Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, two in Heilongjiang, as well as one in Beijing, Henan, and Gansu, the commission said.

By the end of Friday, 26 confirmed cases, including one death, have been reported in Hong Kong. Macao reported 10 cases, while Taiwan reported 16 cases, it said.

A total of 4,214 new suspected cases were reported and 1,280 patients became seriously ill, and 510 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, according to the commission. It added that 6,101 patients remained in severe condition, and 27,657 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

As many as 2,050 people have been discharged from hospital after recovery. The commission said 3.45 lakh 'close contacts' have been traced, adding that among them, 26,702 were discharged from medical observation on Friday. Over 1.89 lakh others are still under medical observation.