Coronavirus updates: Death toll hits 638 with 30,000 infections, Vietnam confirms 12th case

• China reported 73 new deaths from coronavirus and 3,143 new cases on Thursday

• Hubei province reported 69 new deaths and confirmed new cases of 2,447

• Two more Vietnamese tested positive for the coronavirus, raising total infections to 12

Health authorities in China pegged deaths caused by the novel coronavirus epidemic on Thursday at 73, with 69 in Hubei province, according official figures released early Friday. The updated numbers raise the death toll in mainland China to 636. SMCP reports.

Newly confirmed cases rose by 3,143, a second consecutive daily drop, bringing the total to 28,985 cases in the country, according to data released on Friday morning by China’s National Health Commission (NHC).

Majority of the deaths came from Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, where 69 new fatalities from the epidemic were reported on Thursday, one less fatality compared with the day before. The total death toll in Hubei rose to 618, the province’s health commission said.

Coronavirus updates for Feb 07, 2020

Hubei’s health authority also reported 2,447 newly confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the province’s total to 22,112. The number of new confirmed cases in the province dropped from a day earlier, when 2,987 were reported.
Globally, there have been 567 deaths reported and 28,403 cases of infection.

Earlier on Thursday, the World Health Organisation cautioned against reading too much into data showing a dip in daily new coronavirus infections in China after that figure had been rising for weeks.

Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said it was too early to make predictions on whether the outbreak had peaked.

On Wednesday, the National Health Commission in Beijing reported a slight drop in newly confirmed cases of 3,694 nationwide, from the 3,887 reported on Tuesday.

Vietnam confirms two new infections as novel coronavirus cases reach dozen

One patient is the 49-year-old mother while the other is the 16-year-old sister of the infected female worker, who is 23, in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. The mother started coughing on February 3, while the sister had coughing and fatigue. VNExpress, a local media reports on Thursday.

The two had their biological samples taken to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for testing on February 4. They are being treated in quarantine at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi and in stable conditions.

By Vietnam Insider staff/ SCMP