Beijing (AFP): The number of deaths and new cases from China's Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak spiked dramatically Thursday (Feb 13) after authorities changed the way they count infections in a move that will likely fuel speculation that the severity of the outbreak has been under-reported.
The hard-hit central province of Hubei reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients - by far its biggest one-day tally since the crisis erupted last month.
This means officials can use lung imaging on suspected cases to diagnose the virus, rather than the standard nucleic acid tests. China has been praised by the World Health Organisation for its transparent handling of the outbreak, in contrast to the way it concealed the extent of the SARS virus. Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at China's National Health Commission, had said on Tuesday he thought the outbreak would peak in mid- to late-February.
The epidemic has threatened to harm the Chinese economy, the world's second-largest, with ANZ bank warning that China's first-quarter GDP growth would slow to 3.2% to 4.0%, down from a previous projection of 5.0%.
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