BEIJING 

The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 2,872 Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.

The agency said 35 more people died in the last 24 hours while 573 new cases were detected by authorities, bringing the total number of confirmed cases close to 80,000.

Thirty-four of the deaths occurred at the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, while one in Hunan province.

Nearly 52,000 people are currently under medical care, while the number of discharged patients has totaled 41,620.

Outside mainland China, there are 95 registered cases in Hong Kong and 10 in Macau.

The coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 30 other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain, and India.

The World Health Organization, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency Friday, raised the global coronavirus alert level from high to "very high."

*Writing by Gozde Bayar