Death toll in China’s coronavirus outbreak rises to 636

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus outbreak has climbed to 636, the country’s National Health Commission (NHC) said Friday. In a statement, the commission said 31,161 confirmed cases have been reported so far and 73 people have died in the last 24 hours. The number of people under medical observation is 186,045, while the number of those thought to be infected is now 26,762. The number of those detected with the virus outside China's mainland has reached 24 in Hong Kong and 10 in Macau. Both are special administrative regions.

In addition, in the last 24 hours, 3,143 cases were detected.

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

It has raised alarm worldwide.

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) has declared the outbreak an international emergency.