While the Wuhan coronavirus numbers had appeared to be leveling off this week, that all changed on Thursday morning.
A dramatic jump in both the number of confirmed cases (up by 15,155) and deaths (up by 254) have been reported over the last 24 hours, owing chiefly to a change in classification, which critics say is long overdue.
Health authorities in Hubei province have now decided to consider those “clinically diagnosed” with the coronavirus as part of the confirmed total.
Previously, that had not been the case as only those diagnosed with nucleic acid tests had been counted as confirmed.
However, with nucleic acid testing kits in short supply and questions surrounding their accuracy, some experts have been charging China with seriously under-reporting the true magnitude of the virus outbreak through their classification methods.
That certainly now seems to have been the case.
Under these new guidelines, the province of Hubei has reported 14,840 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 242 new deaths, bringing those totals up to 48,206 and 1,310, respectively.
Across the country, the number of confirmed infections is now nearly above 60,000 while the death toll is at 1,368.
Meanwhile, the total number of suspected cases has remained steady and the number of those who have recovered from the disease and been released from the hospital continues to rise at a record pace with 1,252 patients being cured over the past 24 hours.
