Beijing: The death toll from the corona virus epidemic in China crossed the 2,000 mark today with the death of 136 more people while the overall confirmed cases climbed to 74,185.
According to National Health Commission’s report as many as 2,004 people had died of COVID-19 and 1,749 new cases of novel corona virus infection have been confirmed. Of the new deaths, 132 were reported from Hubei Province and one each from Heilongjiang, Shandong, Guangdong and Guizhou.
Another 1,185 new suspected cases have been reported. 236 patients became seriously ill on Tuesday while 1,824 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.
“China’s daily number of newly recovered novel corona virus patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the first time.A total of 14,376 patients infected with the novel corona virus had been discharged so far from hospital after recovery”,the report added.
Dr Liu Zhiming, president of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital in Hubei, died on Tuesday of the novel corona virus.
“11,977 patients remained in severe condition and 5,248 people were suspected of being infected with the virus”,the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.62 confirmed cases including one death had been reported till date in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in Macao and 22 in Taiwan including one death.
A total of 1,716 medical workers had been confirmed contracting the infection as of last Friday. By 11 February, six medical workers including the whistle-blower ophthalmologist, Dr Li Wenliangwere were killed while treating patients.
Passengers from a corona virus-wracked cruise ship in Japan began leaving today after testing negative for the disease while South Korea reported 15 new confirmed cases of the novel corona virus today.