MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. The death toll from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China has reached 722, while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 31,774, the Chinese National Health Commission announced on Saturday.

According to the commission, a total of 2,050 underwent medical treatment and recovered from the deadly disease.

A day ago, the Chinese authorities reported 637 deaths caused by the coronavirus and 31,211 confirmed cases, while 1,540 were reported to recover from the disease.

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial metropolis with a population of 11 million.

The virus - 2019-nCoV - was identified on January 7, 2020. Apart from China, 28 other countries and territories, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases. The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations.