Coronavirus death toll rises to 1,310 in China's Hubei province

Health officials in Hubei province said 242 people had died from the flu-like virus on Wednesday, the fastest rise in the daily count since the pathogen was identified in December, and bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 1,310.

Another 14,840 cases were reported in Hubei alone on Thursday, from 2,015 nationwide a day earlier, after provincial officials started using computerized tomography (CT) scans to look for signs of the virus.

Hundreds of infections have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and territories, but only two people have died from the virus outside mainland China - one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.