KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — China’s central Hubei province, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, recorded the lowest number of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 since January 25.
Reuters today quoted Hubei’s health commission as confirming 349 cases yesterday, down from 1,693 cases a day earlier.
The final tally, however, saw a deduction of 279 cases from 10 Hubei cities. Including the deductions, the number of new cases on Wednesday was 628.
Reuters reported that the number of new cases reported by the Hubei health commission is a net figure that does include such deductions. The news agency did not say why it excluded the deducted cases when reporting the 349 figure.
However, more deaths over Covid-19 were recorded in Hubei yesterday, up by 108 from Tuesday to reach 2,029 deaths, most of which were reported in Hubei’s capital city of Wuhan, where the outbreak originated.
The total number confirmed cases in Hubei is now 62,031. The figure is 75,291 globally, including 2,120 deaths, all but eight of which were in China.
In Wuhan, meanwhile, which is currently under lockdown, 88 new deaths were reported yesterday, down from 116 on Tuesday. This brings the total death toll in Wuhan to 1,585.
Back home, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Malaysia remains at 22.
Fifteen Covid-19 cases have been discharged from hospitals nationwide, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said yesterday, with seven people still receiving treatment.
