Death toll in China’s coronavirus outbreak rises to 564

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus outbreak has climbed to 564, the country’s National Health Commission (NHC) said Thursday. In a statement, the commission said 28,018 confirmed cases have been reported so far and 73 people have died in the last 24 hours. The number of people under medical observation has risen to 186,354, while the number of those thought to be infected is now 24,702. The number of those detected with the virus outside China's mainland has reached 21 in Hong Kong and 10 in Macau. Both are special administrative regions.

In addition, in the last 24 hours, 3,694 cases were detected.

The virus is said to have been transmitted to humans from animals, particularly bats.

It has raised alarm worldwide, with cases reported across Asia, Europe, the U.S. and Canada.

Besides China, the virus has spread to more than 20 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.

Many countries have evacuated their citizens from the city of Wuhan -- the epicenter of the virus -- and other affected areas of China, placing them in isolated medical care.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last month declared the outbreak an international emergency.