More than 68,000 people are now infected, with most of the deaths occurring in Hubei
Beijing, China:
The number of deaths due to the Chinese coronavirus epidemic rose to over 1,600 on Sunday after 139 other people were killed in the hard-hit Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,843 new cases – the third day that new infections were reported decreased in the province.
At least 1,662 people have now died from the outbreak, which occurred for the first time in Hubei's capital Wuhan in December and led to a nationwide epidemic.
More than 68,000 people are now infected, with most of the deaths occurring in Hubei.
The province added more than 14,000 cases in a single day this week after local officials changed their case counting criteria to include people who were diagnosed with lung imaging clinically, in addition to those who had positive laboratory test results.
The revision added nearly 15,000 patients to Hubei on Thursday, with the World Health Organization finding that cases from weeks ago were counted retrospectively.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the body asked China for details on how the diagnosis was made.
France reported the first death from the new corona virus outside Asia on Saturday, fueling global concern about the epidemic.
The Chinese central bank said on Saturday that used banknotes to control the spread of the outbreak had been disinfected and stored for up to 14 days before being put back into circulation.
