Coronavirus kills 69 more people in China’s Hubei as total cases soar beyond 31,000

China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of a lethal viral outbreak, has reported just shy of 2,500 additional cases of the illness and 69 new deaths, bringing the worldwide disease toll to over 31,000, with at least 639 fatalities.

As the spread of the novel coronavirus begins to slow in Hubei, the World Health Organization said on Thursday that it was too early to conclude that the outbreak had reached its peak, with the executive director of the agency’s Health Emergencies Program, Mike Ryan, telling a conference in Geneva it was “too early to make predictions on numbers.” The day before marked one of the deadliest days in China for the virus yet, seeing 70 new fatalities and nearly 3,000 new cases.

Singapore – the country with the greatest number of infections outside of China – meanwhile confirmed two more cases, including in one patient with no known connection to China. Officials warned the public to prepare “for the possibility of new infection clusters involving locals within the community.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping reassured citizens that the country would overcome the deadly outbreak, stating that China had “responded with all its strength” and “with the most thorough and strict prevention and control measures, starting a people's war for epidemic prevention and control.”

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