World Health Organization officials said Thursday morning in China that the coronavirus death toll has climbed to 170 — and more than 7,700 cases have been reported worldwide.

The vast majority — all but 68 cases — have been recorded on mainland China, making it more widespread in the country than the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003, The New York Times reported.

The SARS outbreak killed 774 people worldwide, and China recorded 5,327 cases in 2002 and 2003.

The number of coronavirus cases as of Wednesday was 6,000, according to the WHO.

On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called the virus a “demon” as the death toll in the country hovered near the 100 mark.

“The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide,” Xi said during a meeting with the head of the WHO as he pledged transparency in the government’s effort to contain the outbreak.

“The Chinese government has always adopted an open, transparent and responsible attitude to the timely release of information on the epidemic to domestic and foreign countries,” he told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing.

With Post wires