Coronavirus: China To Build New Hospital In 6 Days As Death Toll Rises

There are currently 830 confirmed cases in China, as the number of deaths has increased from 15 to 41. Another 180 cases of the virus were confirmed in Hubei, said the provincial health authority. This raises the total number of confirmed Wuhan coronavirus cases to 1,072 in mainland China.

The virus has caused alarm because it is still too early to know just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. And because it is new, humans have not been able to build any immunity to it.

The outbreak began in Wuhan, home to around 11 million people. Hospitals in the city have been flooded with concerned residents and pharmacies are running out of medicine. Authorities in China have imposed indefinite travel restrictions on tens of millions of people across 11 cities in an unprecedented effort to contain the spread, as hospitals at the epicenter of the outbreak struggle to handle a surge in new patients.

The weeklong Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which began Friday, has led to concerns that the outbreak could quickly accelerate, as hundreds of millions of people travel across the country to visit friends and relatives.