China virus deaths rise past 800

THE DEATH toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak soared to 803 in China on Sunday, according to official figures, overtaking the global toll for SARS.

With 81 more people dying in Hubei -- the province at the center of the outbreak -- the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2002-2003, according to figures released Sunday.

The latest data came after the World Health Organization said numbers were “stabilizing” -- but warned it was too early to make any predictions about whether the virus might have peaked.

Nearly 37,000 people have now been infected by the new coronavirus in China, believed to have emerged last year in a market that sold wild animals in Hubei’s capital Wuhan before spreading across China.

The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down whole cities, as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis, especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus.

A 60-year-old American diagnosed with the virus died on Thursday in Wuhan, according to the US embassy, which gave no further details on the victim.