China reports 97 new coronavirus deaths on mainland on Sunday, toll rises to 908

FILE PHOTO: A passenger wearing a mask walks at the Shanghai railway station in China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, February 9, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in mainland China rose to 908 as of the end of Sunday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday.

The number of new deaths on Sunday rose 97, the NHC said in a statement on its website, another daily record increase.

The central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, earlier on Monday reported 91 deaths on Sunday, while in the provincial capital, Wuhan, 73 people had died.

FILE PHOTO:Passengers wearing masks walk at the Shanghai railway station in China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, February 9, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

The number of new confirmed infections on mainland China on Sunday increased, after declining on Saturday below 3,000 cases for the first time since Feb. 2.

Across mainland China, there were 3,062 new confirmed infections on Sunday, bringing the total number so far to 40,171.

(This story corrects milestone of Saturday's decline)

(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Huizhong Wu; Editing by Peter Cooney and Kim Coghill)