The number of coronavirus deaths has overtaken that of the Sars epidemic in 2003.
In China’s Hubei province alone, the epicentre of the latest outbreak, the death toll now is put at 780 by regional health officials.
All but one of the overall total of 803 deaths have so far been in mainland China and Hong Kong.
In 2003, 774 people were killed by Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in more than two dozen countries.
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More than 34,800 people have been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide, the vast majority in China.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over the new outbreak.
In its latest bulletin, health officials in Hubei reported 81 new fatalities on Saturday, bringing the death toll in the region to 780.
There now have been 802 deaths in China and Hong Kong and one abroad, in the Philippines.
The new virus, 2019-nCov, was first reported in Hubei’s capital of Wuhan, and the sprawling city has been in lockdown for weeks.
