China COVID-19 death toll reaches 2,715

BEIJING - China on Wednesday reported 52 new coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths, the lowest figure in more than three weeks, bringing the death toll to 2,715.

All the new deaths were in the outbreak epicenter Hubei province, which accounted for 401 of the 406 new infections reported Wednesday, the National Health Commission said.

The number of fresh cases has declined in China, with multiple provinces reporting zero new infections in recent days.

Only five cases were reported outside the epicenter, the lowest in over a month.

But the disease, which originated in Hubei's capital Wuhan late last year and has infected over 78,000 in China, has now reached dozens of countries.

South Korea's death toll rose to 11 on Wednesday, as the country's total number of infections rose to 1,146, by far the largest outside of China.

Italy—which has reported 10 deaths and more than 300 cases—has locked down 11 towns. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said the measures could last weeks.

While Beijing's containment efforts initially focused on monitoring and restricting travel within the country, concern is growing that cases abroad could reintroduce new outbreaks into China.

Authorities in the city of Nanjing quarantined 94 people on a flight arriving from Seoul Tuesday, after three on the plane were found to have fevers.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the Department of Health on Tuesday said out of the cumulative total of 610 persons under investigation (PUIs) for possible COVID-19, only 16% or 98 were still admitted at medical facilities as of 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 25.

Meanwhile, the number of discharged PUIs is at 509.

The three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines were no longer receiving hospital care as two of them recovered and the other died.

The DOH also said on Tuesday that 80 Filipinos who were on board the M/V Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan tested positive for COVID-19. Most of them are being treated in Japanese hospitals, while 10 have already been discharged and given "a clean bill of health."

More than 400 Filipinos who were on board the M/V Diamond Princess were repatriated to the Philippines on Tuesday after they tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

They were escorted by teams from the DOH and the Department of Foreign Affairs and brought to Athletes' Village in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac for a 14-day quarantine period. —Agence France-Presse/KG, GMA News