China: Death Toll of Coronavirus Jumps to 1000

The death toll from China's novel coronavirusepidemic jumped to 1,011 nationwide on Tuesday after hard-hit Hubei provincereported 103 new deaths.

Hubei's health commission, in its daily update, confirmed another 2,097 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in December.

According to reports, there are now more than 42,200confirmed cases across China, based on previously released from the government.

The new virus is believed to have emerged last year in a market that sells wild animals in Hubei's capital Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with medical workersand patients affected at a hospital in Beijing on Monday, where he called formore decisive measures to contain the outbreak.

On Monday, an advance team for a World HealthOrganization-led international expert mission on the virus arrived in Chinaheaded by Bruce Aylward and oversaw the organization's 2014-16 response to theEbola epidemic in West Africa.

Moreover, Britain on Monday recorded a doubling ofcases to eight, and the government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus wasa "serious and imminent threat."

US President Donald Trump said he expected theoutbreak would disappear in April due to hotter weather, a prognosis at oddswith top US health officials.