China’s Hubei province, which is at the centre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported a record 242 deaths due to the disease in its da...
China’s Hubei province, which is at the centre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported a record 242 deaths due to the disease in its daily update on Thursday. The sharp increase in the number of daily deaths came after authorities changed the methodology of counting infections.
At least 1,355 patients have died of the virus infection in mainland China so far, and nearly 60,000 have been infected, AFP reported. Hubei recorded 14,840 new cases on Wednesday.
Announcing the change in methodology, the Hubei health commission said it would now include cases that were “clinically diagnosed” in its official toll. Lung imaging on suspected cases can now be sufficient to diagnose the virus, instead of the standard nucleic acid tests. This accounted for 13,332 of the new cases and over half of the new toll reported in Thursday’s update.
The changed methodology will let patients get treatment as early as possible, the authorities in Hubei said.
The virus is believed to have originated in a live seafood market in the province’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province. Its symptoms can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The novel coronavirus causes respiratory illness, and is similar to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which had also emerged from China...
