Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 563, over 28,000 Infected

A total of 73 people died from the virus over the 24 hours to midnight, China’s National Health Commission said on Thursday.

Most of the deaths were in Hubei, the province surrounding Wuhan, but there were three deaths elsewhere – in Tianjin and Heilongjiang in the northeast and Guizhou in the southwest.

The virus has killed two people outside mainland China, one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines. At least 25 countries have confirmed cases.

The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asked for $675m to help countries address the expected spread of the virus.

He acknowledged that the sum was a lot, but told a news briefing that “it’s much less than the bill we will face if we do not invest in preparedness now.”

Tedros said that in the last 24 hours, the UN health agency has seen the biggest jump in cases since the start of the epidemic. According to the latest figures early on Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in China jumped by 3,694 to 28,018.