Global death toll for novel coronavirus reaches over 800, set to exceed SARS

The 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) has claimed the lives of 813 people worldwide as of Sunday (Feb. 9), according to Chinese state media CGTN.

This comes after China’s National Health Commission (NHC) reported 89 new deaths on Feb. 9.

Hubei Province, the epicentre of the outbreak, accounts for most of the deaths and cases around the world.

CNBC and CNN reported that the current global death toll for the nCoV has exceeded that of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the early 2000s.

SCMP reported that the current global death for nCoV matches the number attributed by World Health Organisation (WHO) as SARS deaths, which is 813.

SARS killed at least 774 people and infected 8,096 people globally in 2002 and 2003.

According to Bloomberg, the nCoV is spreading at a faster rate than SARS.

This is mainly because the SARS outbreak lasted about eight months, while the nCoV was first reported from Wuhan, China on Dec. 31 2019, about five weeks ago.

In addition to the rising number of deaths, there are now 37, 251 people in China who are infected and another 316 confirmed cases have been announced abroad.

However, over 2,000 people have recovered from the disease.

Singapore has 40 confirmed cases as of Feb. 8

On Feb. 8, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) announced seven more confirmed cases of the nCoV.

All seven new patients have no recent travel history to China.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Singapore to 40.

Out of the 40, four patients are in critical condition and are warded in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The remaining infected patients are in stable conditions or improving.

Two out of the 40 patients have been discharged.

Among the new cases announced on Feb. 8 are a private hire car driver and a taxi driver.

This is the second private hire driver to be infected.

Ride-hailing app Grab has decided to suspend its GrabShare services from Feb. 9, 1am.

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