Toll from coronavirus rises to 2004 in China

The death toll in China from novel coronavirus outbreak has risen to 2,004, with 136 new fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, the Chinese state health committee said Wednesday.

The number of confirmed cases has gone up by 1,749 to reach 74,185, the committee said.

The number of people who have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals has risen by 1,824 to 14,376.

"The state health committee has received from 31 provinces... information about 74,185 confirmed cases of infection with the new type of coronavirus, of which 57,805 people are currently infected (11,977 people are in serious condition), 14,376 people have been discharged from hospitals and 2,004 have died," the committee said.

The novel coronavirus disease, dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), was first detected in Wuhan, China's Hubei Province, in late December 2019 and has since spread to more than 20 other countries.