China's Hubei province reports nearly 15,000 new coronavirus cases and 242 additional deaths in 1 day

Tyrone Siu/Reuters

• China’s Hubei province reported 14,840 new coronavirus cases and 242 deaths on Thursday morning local time.

• The new numbers are the highest reported in a single day since the outbreak began.

• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

China’s Hubei province reported 14,840 new coronavirus cases and 242 deaths on Thursday morning local time.

Since the outbreak began in the city of Wuhan in December, it has killed about 1,360 people and infected more than 60,000 across the globe. (For the latest case total and death toll, see Business Insider’s live updates.) 

Wednesday’s report marked the highest infection and death count in a single day since the outbreak began.

The enormous jump is likely due to a change in the way cases are counted and reported in Hubei.

Of the nearly 15,000 new cases, 13,332 were “clinically diagnosed,” according to a release from the Hubei province’s health commission — a lesser standard of diagnosis than the official figures were including before. A clinical diagnosis in this case means patients were confirmed to have the coronavirus based on CT scans of their lungs, rather than confirmed lab-test results.

These clinical diagnoses don’t appear to have been included in prior daily case counts from Hubei province. The health commission said the clinical diagnoses were added to be more consistent with how other parts of China are reporting their results.

According to Reuters editor Vincent Lee in China, the high number of additional deaths likely includes some patients who had previously died but hadn’t yet been confirmed to have the new coronavirus.

Hubei health officials also reported that an additional 9,028 patients are suspected to have the virus.

The coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, has spread to at least 26 countries. Cities across China have imposed partial or full quarantine to contain the virus’s spread, which affect more than 50 million people. 

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