Coronavirus death toll soars to 213; over 9,300 confirmed cases in China

The death toll from the Coronavirus outbreak has risen to 213 with 9,356 confirmed cases in China after the worst-hit Hubei province reported 42 new fatalities on Friday. Within the past 24 hours, over 1,200 new cases of the disease have been recorded in 17 Chinese cities, the Chinese media reported.

The new figures came shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency over the deadly epidemic, which has spread to over 20 countries around the world. The latest figures show that the daily death count is increasing sharply, despite unprecedented measures imposed by China on Hubei a week ago.

On Thursday alone, Chinese health officials had reported a nationwide total of 38 deaths, all but one of them in Hubei. The Chinese province on Friday also reported 1,220 new cases, slightly higher than the previous day.

READ | Worldwide Coronavirus Scare Sparks Debate On Origin Of Name And Other Key Facts

READ | Companies With China Ties Start To Feel Virus Impact

WHO declares Global Health Emergency

The WHO had initially played down the threat posed by Coronavirus, but later revised its risk assessment after crisis talks on Thursday.

"We must all act together now to limit further spread... We can only stop it together," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said while briefing in Geneva.

Although Tedros said that imposing restrictions on travel and trade restrictions with China were futile in efforts to stem the spread of Coronavirus which has now affected several countries around the world. 

READ | WHO Declares Coronavirus Outbreak A Global Health Emergency

Many countries have already advised their citizens not to visit China while some have banned entry for travellers from Wuhan, where the virus first surfaced.

He also said that the WHO was concerned with the impact the virus would have on countries that are not prepared to deal with the outbreak. "Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it."

READ | Donald Trump Creates Task Force To Monitor Deadly Coronavirus

(With inputs from AFP)