The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumpedto 2,000 on Wednesday after 132 more people died in Hubei province, thehard-hit epicenter of the outbreak.
In its daily update, the province's health commission alsoreported 1,693 new cases of people infected with the virus. This brings thetotal number of cases in mainland China past 74,000.
Most of the cases are in Hubei, where the virus firstemerged in December be before spiraling into a nationwide epidemic.
Wednesday's jump in the death toll was an increase in Tuesday's figures, although the numbers of new cases reported in Hubei were lowest for a week.
A study released by Chinese officials claimed most patientshave mild cases of the illness.
Outside of hardest-hit Hubei, which has been effectivelylocked down to try to contain the virus, the number of new cases has beenshowing and China's national health authority has said this is a sign theoutbreak is under control.
President Xi Jinping, in a phone call with the British Prime minister, said China's measures were achieving "visible progress", according to state media Tuesday.
However, the World Health Organization has cautioned that it was too early to tell if the decline would continue. On Tuesday the director of a hospital in the central Hubei city of Wuhan became the seventh medical worker to succumb to the COVID_19 illness.
