The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus epidemic has jumped past 1,700 after officials reported 100 more fatalities in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
In its daily update on Monday, the province's health commission also reported 1,933 new cases of infection.
At least 70,500 people have been infected nationwide.
Outside of hardest-hit Hubei, the number of new cases has reportedly been declining.
China's national health authority said on Sunday that the slowing figures were a sign the outbreak was being controlled.
The chief of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, earlier warned it is "impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take."■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
