Covid-19 death toll rises sharply to 1,355 after China changes way it counts cases

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.