FILE PHOTO: Medical staff transfer a patient at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 20, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - The death toll from China’s new flu-like virus in Hubei province has risen to 17 and the total number of confirmed cases has risen further, state television reported on Wednesday, citing the provincial government.

The province confirmed 444 total cases of the coronavirus, which emerged in its capital Wuhan, as of 8 p.m. local time (1200 GMT). The previously reported death toll in China was nine, all in Hubei province.