Coronavirus Outbreak: Death Toll In China Hits 490 As Confirmed Cases Of Infection Rise To Over 24,000

Chinese health authorities on Wednesday (5 January) said it received reports of 3,887 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 65 deaths on Tuesday (4 January) from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

All of the deaths are in Hubei Province, according to China's National Health Commission, Xinhua news agency reported.

Another 3,971 new suspected cases were reported on Tuesday, said the commission.

Also on Tuesday, 431 patients became seriously ill, and 262 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 24,324 by the end of Tuesday, the commission said, noting that a total of 490 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 3,219 patients remained in severe condition, and 23,260 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 892 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The commission said 252,154 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 18,457 were discharged from medical observation on Tuesday, with 185,555 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Tuesday, 18 confirmed cases had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), including one death, ten in the Macao SAR and 11 in Taiwan.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)