Death toll in China from coronavirus rises to 2,983

By Fuat Kabakci

BEIJING (AA) - The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 2,983 Wednesday, according to the country's National Health Commission.

The commission said 38 more people died in the last 24 hours while 119 new cases were detected by authorities, with the total number of confirmed cases reaching 80,270.

Thirty-seven of the deaths occurred in the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, and one in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

At least 36,432 people are currently under medical care, while the number of discharged patients totals 49,856.

The coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 30 other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.

The World Health Organization, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency Friday, has raised the global coronavirus alert level from high to "very high."