Death toll due to deadly novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has gone over 300, with 304 reported in mainland China as of now. The lone fatality reported outside China is of a 44-year-old Chinese national who contracted the deadly virus and died in the Philippines' capital, Manila.
More than 19,500 cases have been reported from around the world, with more than 95 percent reported in the mainland itself.
Death toll rises to 305; 2,590 new cases reported
On Saturday, 45 fatalities and 2,590 new cases were reported in China by the National Health Commission, Global Times reported. The total tally of coronavirus cases in China reached 19,544 on Saturday, February 1.
The 45 deaths reported on Saturday occurred in China's Hubei province- the epicentre of coronavirus outbreak. Out of the 2,590 new cases reported, 1,921 occurred in Hubei, South China Morning Post reported. With Tibet announcing a case of infection, on Thursday, the disease has spread across all of mainland China's 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
2019-nCoV has spread to 23 countries, other than China, with latest cases being reported by Russia, Spain and the Philippines.
First coronavirus fatality outside China
Philippines announced the first death due to coronavirus, outside China. The deceased is a 44-year old Chinese national, who had travelled to the Philippines from Wuhan, on January 21, along with a 38-year-old Chinese woman. On January 25, he was admitted to a hospital in Manila, after having developed symptoms. On Saturday, he died in the hospital.
"Over the course of the patient's admission he developed severe pneumonia," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said, Al Jazeera reported. "In his last few days. the patient was stable and showed signs of improvement. However, his condition deteriorated within the last 24 hours resulting in his demise", he said.
"This is the first reported case outside of China", said Dr Rabi Abeyasinghe, the WHO Representative in the Philippines. "However, we need to keep in mind that he came from Wuhan, China", he further added. The incident comes after President Rodrigo Duterte announced a temporary travel ban of those coming from China, in order to curb the spread of the virus. Similar restrictions have been imposed by the United States, Singapore and Vietnam.
