Wuhan virus: China death toll rises to 259, with total cases surpassing 11,000

The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak has risen to 259, as the authorities in hardest-hit Hubei province on Saturday (Feb 1) reported 45 new fatalities.

The National Health Commission said in its daily update that 46 more people had succumbed to the respiratory disease.  All but one of the new deaths came in hardest-hit Hubei province, the epicentre of an outbreak that has spread around the world.

The new deaths bring the total fatalities in Hubei province to 249. The local health commission also confirmed 1,347 new cases of infection on Friday, with the total reaching 7,153 by the end of the day.

The virus emerged in December in Hubei’s provincial capital Wuhan, and has been traced to a meat market that sold wild game.

The number of infections in China also rose, by 2,102, bringing the nationwide total to 11,791.

That is despite unprecedented quarantine measures imposed last week on millions of people in Hubei and aggressive preventive steps elsewhere in the country. 

The number of new deaths and newly confirmed cases have both spiralled higher on a daily basis since China sounded the nationwide alarm a week ago. 

The epidemic has spread far and wide as huge numbers of Chinese travelled within and outside the country for the Chinese New Year holiday that started last week.  It has since ballooned into a global health emergency with cases in more than two dozen countries. 

The top Communist Party official in Wuhan expressed "remorse" on Friday, saying local authorities acted too slowly in containing the virus.

For the latest updates on the Wuhan virus, visit here.