Death toll now rises to 170 from coronavirus outbreak in China as evacuated Americans undergo testing

BEIJING, China — The death toll has risen to 170 in the new virus outbreak in China, with 7,711 cases reported within the country.

Thursday’s figures cover the previous 24 hours and represent an increase of 38 deaths and 1,737 cases. Of the new deaths, 37 were in the epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei province and one in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The news comes as the 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, the Hubei province city of 11 million where the outbreak originated, are undergoing three days of testing and monitoring at a Southern California military base to make sure they do not show signs of the virus.

World health officials expressed “great concern” Wednesday that the virus is starting to spread between people outside of China. The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.