South Korea reported the biggest daily jump in infections with 594 new cases on Saturday. It has urged citizens on Saturday to stay indoors as it warned of a "critical moment" in its battle against the coronavirus after recording the biggest daily jump in infections, with 594 new cases taking the tally to 2,931.
South Korea is grappling with the largest outbreak of the virus outside China, as a new death took the toll to 17, amid a record daily increase in infections since the country confirmed its first patient on January 20, Aljazeera reported.
In China - the epicenter of the deadly disease - the National Health Commission reported on Saturday at least 47 new coronavirus deaths, bringing to 2,835 the number of fatalities nationwide.
There were also 427 new infections, up from 327 the previous day, pushing the confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 79,251, and more than 83,000 worldwide.
Italy has reported 650 coronavirus cases and 17 deaths, the most in Europe.
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran has risen to 34 with 338 confirmed cases, officials said on Friday.
As this developed, the US states of California and Oregon reported two new cases of infection from unknown origins.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned that the spread of the virus is "getting bigger".
The virus has proliferated around the globe over the past week, emerging on every continent except Antarctica, prompting many governments and businesses to try to stop people from traveling or gathering in crowded places.
“We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of the impact of COVID-19 to very high at global level,” WHO’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
“We do not see evidence as yet that the virus is spreading freely in communities. As long as that's the case, we still have a chance of containing this virus.”
MNA/PR
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