China virus death toll surges past 1,500, new cases fall

A worker moves medical waste at a hospital in Beijing treating coronavirus patients.

Beijing (AFP) - The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,500 on Saturday but new infections fell following a mid-week surge caused by a change in the way cases are counted.

More than 66,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country a month later and causing global panic.