BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - China Thursday reported an alarming rise in the number of deaths and infections due to novel coronavirus.
Hubei Province, the center of the deadly virus, reported 242 new deaths on Wednesday, which is the highest number of casualties triggered by COVID-19 in a day since the outbreak in December.
This is more than double the previous highest death toll in a day.
The Hubei Provincial Health Commission said the disease has been confirmed in additional 14,840 people on Wednesday, the highest daily increase so far.
By the end of Wednesday, a total of 1,310 people have died of the disease and 48,206 confirmed cases of infection were reported in Hubei.
This has pushed the death toll on the Chinese mainland above 1,350 - with infections nearing 60,000.
The sudden rise in new cases of COVID-19 was the result of disease diagnosis criteria revision in Hubei, Xin Hua reported.
Any suspected cases with pneumonia-related CT scan results are counted as clinically diagnosed cases, according to the latest version of the diagnosis and treatment scheme released by the National Health Commission.
The provincial health commission said the diagnosis criteria was revised to give timely treatment to those who have been clinically diagnosed.
3,441 patients were discharged from hospitals in Hubei after recovery on Wednesday.
Currently 33,693 coronavirus patients are hospitalized in the province. 5,647 of them were in severe condition and another 1,437 in critical condition.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party secretary in Hubei and its capital city, Wuhan, were fired after the new figures were disclosed, according to the state media.
In a development outside the country, the cruise ship MS Westerdam, carrying 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members, finally docked in Cambodia after it was turned away by ports in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines over fears that some passengers on board might be infected with the virus.
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