China’s Hubei to add virus cases back to tally after methodology change

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, said on Friday it will add back some cases to its tally of the disease, after subtracting 279 cases as part of a revision to its methodology.

China adjusted its methodology on Wednesday to count only cases that are detected with genetic tests, rather than with CT scans. Officials concluded on Friday that it was a mistake to have removed cases that were already counted.

Hubei Party secretary Ying Yong on Friday ordered the cases to be added back to the tally and said that whoever removed them would be held responsible, Tu Yuanchao, a senior official at Hubei’s health commission said.

(Reporting by Shivani Singh, Yawen Chen andTO Yilei Sun; Editing by Peter Graff)