China confirms 121 new coronavirus deaths, over 5,000 new cases

China has confirmed more than 5000 new cases of deadly coronavirus outbreak on February 14, according to the reports. The passengers on a cruise ship blocked from five countries due to virus fears finally deboarded the ship in Cambodia. China’s National Health Commission said it had recorded 121 new deaths and 5,090 new coronavirus cases on the mainland on February 13, taking the total infected tally to 64,434 people. Nearly 55,748 people are presently undergoing treatment at various hospitals across the country and 1383 people have died from the novel coronavirus outbreak that has emerged in Hubei province’s capital, Wuhan, in December.

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WHO: Sharp rise of 254 cases

The hard-hit Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, has reported 116 new fatalities and reported 4,823 new confirmed cases on Thursday, the provincial health commission said. The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in Hubei province to 51,986, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The World Health Organisation on Thursday said a sharp rise of 254 cases of COVID-19 (official name for coronavirus) cases in China, due to a change in counting methods, did not represent a big shift in the epidemic.

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Wuhan records 242 deaths in a single day

Of the 254, Hubei and its provincial capital, Wuhan reported 242 deaths, the single highest in a day so far. "This does not represent a significant change in the trajectory of the outbreak," Michael Ryan, head of WHO's health emergencies programme, told a press conference in Geneva. "We're not dealing, from what we understand, with a spike in cases of 14,000 on one day," he said.
"This increase that you've all seen in the last 24 hours is largely, in part, down to a change in how the cases are being reported." Ryan also said he expected members of a WHO-led international mission to China to arrive over the weekend. Already 15-member advance WHO team has arrived in China on Monday. 

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