Chinese authorities in Wuhan confirmed 103 new deaths from the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll associated with the disease to more than 1,000 people.
The health authority for the province of Hubei, which encompasses the city of Wuhan, released the figure on Monday, bringing the total reported number of those killed by coronavirus to 1,013, with the vast majority of deaths occurring in mainland China.
Coronavirus has spread rapidly since it first registered as an illness among the population of Wuhan. Officials have scrambled to build temporary hospitals to care for the ill. Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared in Beijing on Monday wearing a mask.
China has struggled to contain the epidemic, which has spread to more than 40,000 people and has caused the government to close down cities, quarantining millions of people from travel and day-to-day activities. Videos have circulated of cement trucks spraying disinfectant in major Chinese cities as hazmat suit-wearing officials detain and transport citizens who refuse to wear a mask.
“There’ve been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCov spread from people with no travel history to China,” tweeted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization. “The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries. In short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
The Chinese central bank plans to pump $22 billion into the economy amid reports that the coronavirus will lower the expected growth of China’s economy from 2.1% to 1.2%.
Workers at crematoriums in Wuhan have told reporters that they are burning hundreds of bodies each day amid concerns that the Chinese government is underreporting the severity of the mystery illness. A doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital who was punished for warning of the outbreak in late December died this week after he contracted the pneumonialike disease.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed a handful of cases. However, the director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Nancy Messonnier, said the risk for Americans remains low and that officials are taking measures to limit the effect of the coronavirus.
