China confirms drop in new coronavirus cases as death tally touches 2,345

The death toll in China from the new coronavirus outbreak soared to 109 bringing the total number of death count to 2345, according to the National Health Commission on February 22. Another 397 new cases were confirmed in China which plummeted from nearly 900 officially reported Friday, bringing the total number of infected cases to over 76,000. The drop in new cases of the novel coronavirus came as authorities in Hubei province were directed to revise figures to clear any confusions around the data. National Health Commission said on Saturday that the number of new cases nationwide for February 19 was revised up to 820 up from 394 earlier reported. It also adjusted the total confirmed cases for February 20 by over 400 cases to 75,891. 

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Revised Methods

China on February 20 has reportedly changed the method of counting patients with the new coronavirus that will now include only those diagnosed by sophisticated laboratory testing. According to media reports, China had earlier changed the method of counting the patients from Hubei province and its capital Wuhan city, as it allowed people diagnosed via clinical methods including lung imaging to be added in the count in addition to those confirmed by laboratories. As per reports, Chinese authorities have said that the change was made last week due to a backlog of patients awaiting nucleic acid tests whose condition was deteriorating and it became hard for them to test the patients quickly. Authorities now say that the situation in Hubei has changed and there is no backlog of patients who need nucleic acid testing. The latest development came as China reported the biggest drop in new cases of the virus in nearly a month. 

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More than 2300 died

According to media reports, the new coronavirus has claimed more than 2,300 lives and has infected more than 77, 000 people in China since it first broke out in December last year. The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) had earlier said that the virus has already spread to 27 countries, including as far as western Europe. As per reports, the coronavirus originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the believed epicentre of the disease. Media reports also stated that animals were being traded illegally in the market from where the disease originated.

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