New confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus have hit record daily levels in China.
According to the National Health Commission in Beijing, 11,791 cases have been confirmed in China’s 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions as of Friday. New deaths have brought the nationwide toll to 259.
Authorities in China’s coronavirus epicenter of Hubei province reported 45 new deaths from the illness and 1,347 new confirmed cases on Saturday — both daily record highs.
Of the newly reported deaths in Hubei, 33 were in Wuhan, the province’s capital and a major Chinese transit hub, where the first cases of the coronavirus were identified, according to data published by the Hubei Health Commission.
Underscoring the apparent ease with which the illness may be spreading, a recent statement by the government of Xinyu, a city in Jiangxi province — which is adjacent to Hubei — said 17 new cases had been confirmed in the city, and that 15 of the afflicted patients were infected by a single person. The statement has continued to attract attention since it was published on Thursday.