China's National Health Commission has announced that the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mailand China reached 1,770 as of the end of Sunday, up by 105 from the previous day. 

At least 100 of the new deaths were from the province of Hubei, the epicentre of the epidemic, the Commission said on Monday morning.

Across the country, there were 2,048 new confirmed infections, about 1,933 from Hubei alone, pushing the new total to 70,548. 

On Sunday, Hubei announced tough new measures to try to curb the outbreak, ordering its cities to block roads to all private vehicles.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the United States evacuated its citizens from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has been docked at Japan's Yokohama port for more than a week in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Forty US nationals found to have been infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus will remain in Japan for treatment, a US health official said.

In Taiwan, the government reported its first death from the disease while a newly-published speech revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping was aware of the potential severity of the outbreak long before the public was informed.

Source: Al Jazeera News

BDST: 1147 HRS, FEB 17, 2020
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