Death toll in China from coronavirus reaches 3,179

By Fuat Kabakci

BEIJING (AA) - The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus outbreak has risen to 3,179, the country's National Health Commission said Friday.

The agency said seven more people died in the last 24 hours while eight new cases were detected by authorities, bringing the total number of confirmed cases close to 80,813.

Six of the deaths occurred at the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, and one in Shandong province.

The global death toll is now over 4,900, with more than 134,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the outbreak "a pandemic."