South Korea confirms 142 more cases of coronavirus, total rises to 346

South Korea has confirmed 142 more coronavirus cases on February 22, the sharpest increase in infections so far with more than half of the new cases linked to a hospital in the southern city. As per the reports,  the total toll in South Korea accounts for 346 which is now the second-highest outside of China, with a huge spike in cases at a hospital in Cheongdo. Some similar cases were also reported among members of a religious sect in the nearby city of Daegu. As the new cases erupted, 92 were "related" to patients or staff at the hospital in Cheongdo, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

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Second death in South Korea

The medical authorities reported another death case on Saturday taking the total toll to two. Both the patients had been admitted at the hospital. South Korea has confirmed 15 new cases of novel coronavirus outbreak on February 19 increasing its total tally by nearly 50 per cent which includes 11 people infected on the southern city of Daegu, as per the reports. South Korea is witnessing an economic slowdown amid the virus outbreak in neighbouring China. The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reportedly said that 15 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed, increasing its total from 31 to 46. Of the 46 infected, 13 were in Daegu and neighbouring North Gyeongsang province and 11 of them is believed to be linked to a single patient i.e. a 61-year-old woman.

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Death toll soars to 2345 in China

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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