Death toll in China epidemic surges past 1,500People wearing protective facemasks queue for food in Shanghai. BEIJING - The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic surged past 1,500 on Saturday after 139 more people died in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak. The province's health commission also reported 2,420 new cases of the COVID-19 strain, about half the number from the previous day. The scale of the epidemic swelled this week after authorities in Hubei changed their criteria for counting cases, adding thousands of new patients to their tally. Most of the infections among health workers were in Hubei's capital, Wuhan, where many have lacked proper masks and gear to protect themselves in hospitals dealing with a deluge of patients.

Source: Bangkok Post February 14, 2020 23:37 UTC