Beijing, February 2: The death toll due to the deadly novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China mounted to 304 with 45 new deaths on Sunday. According to details by Chinese health authorities on Sunday, 2,590 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection have been reported from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. According to China's National Health Commission, all the deaths are in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus. The authorities said on Saturday, 315 patients became seriously ill, and 85 people were discharged from hospital after recovery on Saturday.

On Sunday, an Air India special flight carrying the second batch of Indian 323 passengers on board took off from Wuhan city in China at 3.10 am. The special plane will land in Delhi at 9.10 am at the  Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi. On February 1, the national carrier evacuated 324 Indians stranded in Wuhan and brought them back to India. Coronavirus Can Go Undetected in Healthy People Without Symptoms, Says Lancet Study.

Second Air India Flight Carries 323 Indians and 7 from Maldives

Vikram Misri, Ambassador of India to China informed that the second flight from Wuhan took off for Delhi with 323 Indian citizens on board. 7 Maldives citizens also evacuated. Foreign Minister of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid said that 7 Maldivians in Wuhan (China) are on their way to Delhi on special Air India flight. "Upon arrival, they'll be housed in Delhi for a period of quarantine. Deep gratitude to PM Narendra Modi & EAM Dr. Jaishankar", Shahid said. Google Search Results for 'Coronavirus' Shows SOS Alert Info Amid Virus Outbreak in China's Wuhan.

A total of 95 of the 324 Indians, who arrived in the special flight on Saturday, were taken from the airport to a special facility at a Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp for medical observation. "We urge all Indian citizens from Hubei who intend to avail this flight for India and not yet contacted the Embassy, to urgently call the hotlines (+8618610952903 and +8618612083629) or send mails to dedicated email ID helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 0800 hours on February 1, 2020," said the government in a tweet.

According to a recent research, scientists have found that the mechanics of infection displayed by the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) are similar to that of the 2002-03 SARS outbreak -- also a coronavirus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2020 08:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).