The coronavirus infection rate in China's Hubei province is again on the rise after two days in which the number of new cases slowed, with 1,933 new infections and 100 deaths reported.
The new figures bring the COVID-19 global death toll to 1,770, with the number of deaths in Hubei province at 1,696.
The Hubei health commission said the total number of cases in the province had reached 58,182 by the end of Sunday.
The number of new cases rose nearly 5 per cent from the previous day, but the number of deaths fell from 139 on Saturday.
Nearly 90 per cent of the new cases were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated.
Wuhan has accounted for 71 per cent of the province's total cases and 77 per cent of deaths.
Hubei announced tough new measures to try to curb the epidemic, ordering its cities to block roads to all private vehicles and telling villages and urban residential districts to strictly control the movement of people.
Outside China, more than 500 people have been infected and five have died.
On Sunday, Chinese Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng commented on the previous slowing rate of new cases as proof that drastic measures to curb infections were having an impact.
(Source: ABC News)