Death toll in China from coronavirus rises to 2,837

By Fuat Kabakci

BEIJING (AA) - The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 2,837 Saturday, according to the country’s National Health Commission.

The commission said 47 more people died in the past 24 hours while 427 new cases were detected by health authorities, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to more than 79,250.

Forty-five of the deaths occurred in the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, while two of them were in the capital Beijing and one in Hunan province.

Around 58,200 people are currently under medical care, while the number of discharged patients has totaled some 39,000.

Outside mainland China, there are 94 registered cases in Hong Kong and 10 others in Macau.

The coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 30 other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain, and India.

The World Health Organization, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency, on Friday raised the global coronavirus alert level from high to "very high".

*Writing by Cagatay Zontur