09:57, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. The number of people infected with the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV in China has surpassed 24,300, and the death toll has climbed to 490, China's National Health Commission said, reports TASS.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Wangyi news portal reported citing regional authorities that over 23,600 people were infected with the new coronavirus, and the death toll climbed to 491 (including one lethal case in Hong Kong).

Over 185,500 people in China remain under medical supervision.

According to the commission, 846 people have recovered after contracting the new coronavirus. Most people infected with 2019-nCoV are reported from Hubei province (16,600), where the death toll from the new coronavirus climbed to 479. In Zhejiang province, 829 people were infected, in Guangdong province — 813 people, in Beijing — 228 people (one person died), in Heilongjiang province bordering Russia v 155 people (two people died), and in Inner Mongolia province bordering Russia — 35 people.

On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. On January 7, Chinese experts identified the infecting agent: coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

Cases of the new coronavirus were also confirmed in 24 other countries, including Russia. The WHO declared the new coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency.