China coronavirus deaths surpass 2,400, new cases at 630

As of Sunday, China's death toll from the coronavirus epidemic rose to 2,442 after 96 more people died, with all but one death in the epicentre of Hubei province.

The National Health Commission confirmed another 630 new cases in China, bringing the total infections to around 77,000.

The vast majority of both deaths and new infections were in Hubei's provincial capital, Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

China's numbers of daily new infections are well down from the outbreak's early height.

The coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries and is causing mounting alarm due to new pockets of outbreak in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

China has sowed confusion about its numbers by repeatedly changing its counting methods.

In the Philippines, there are 139 persons under investigation (PUIs) being attended to at medical facilities across the country, with most of them in Metro Manila.

The three previously confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines, all Chinese nationals, have been discharged from hospital care after two recovered and one died.