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China reports big rise in coronavirus deaths, WHO sees no 'tip of iceberg'

14 February 2020 07:26 (UTC +04:00)

The Chinese province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak reported a record rise in deaths and thousands more infections using a broader definition on Thursday, while Japan became the third place outside mainland China to suffer a fatality, APA reports citing Reuters.

The epidemic has given China’s ruling Communist Party one of its sternest challenges in years, constrained the world’s second largest economy and triggered a purge of provincial bureaucrats.

With China’s streets, restaurants and flower markets bare, a miserable Valentine’s Day was expected on Friday.

Japan confirmed its first coronavirus death - a woman in her 80s living in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo - adding to two previous fatalities in Hong Kong and the Philippines. For all related coverage on the outbreak, clicka