New coronavirus cases fall in China

Health officials in China said on Sunday that the number of new cases of coronavirus had dropped, crediting a campaign to stop the spread of the deadly illness.

The country’s National Health Commission reported 2,009 new cases and 142 new deaths, according to Reuters, which added that 2,641 new cases and 143 deaths were reported in China on Saturday.

“The effect of the coronavirus controls is appearing,” commission spokesman Mi Feng reportedly said.

Mi also said that critical cases fell from 32.4 percent late last month to 21.6 percent on Saturday, Reuters noted.

The virus, which is believed to have originated in an open-air market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has now infected more than 69,000 people worldwide, the World Health Organization said on Sunday, according to The Associated Press.

The majority — 68,500 cases and 1,665 deaths — has been reported in mainland China.

Taiwan on Sunday also reported its first death from the virus, Reuters reported. 

Officials said a man in his sixties who suffered from diabetes and hepatitis B had died. He had not traveled abroad recently, they added.

Fifteen cases have been reported in the U.S., the AP noted, adding that one U.S. citizen has died in China.