China's Hubei province reports 93 new coronavirus deaths, toll mounts to 1,789

BEIJING: The number of deaths in China’s central Hubei province from a coronavirus outbreak rose by 93 to 1,789 as of Monday, the province’s health commission said on its website on Tuesday.

There had been a further 1,807 cases detected in Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, taking the total in the province to 59,989.

Most of the new deaths on Monday were in Hubei’s provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated. Wuhan reported 72 new deaths, down from 76 on Sunday. A total of 1,381 people in Wuhan have now died from the virus.

New confirmed cases in Wuhan stood at 1,600, down from 1,690 on Sunday.

Read more: Chinese doctors using plasma therapy on coronavirus, WHO says ‘very valid’ approach

China’s financial hub of Shanghai on Monday had 332 infected cases, one of whom died in recent weeks. Lu Hongzhou, professor and co-director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, said that 184 cases were still hospitalized, including 166 mild cases, while 18 were in serious and critical conditions.

He said the hospital had set up a special clinic to administer plasma therapy and was selecting patients who were willing to donate. The blood would be screened to check if he or she had other diseases like hepatitis B or C, he added.

“We are positive that this method can be very effective in our patients,” he said.