Coronavirus deaths exceed toll from SARS

The death toll in China has risen to more than 800, surpassing the 774 deaths in the SARS epidemic of 2002-3. Here are live updates.

The number of new cases appears to have stabilized, but a senior official of the World Health Organization said, “It’s very, very early to make any predictions.”

A study of early cases in Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, suggests a single patient spread the virus far and wide in a hospital.

Blowback in China: The authoritarian system President Xi Jinping built around himself is being tested. Though he has retreated from view, it may be difficult for him to escape blame. “What kind of government is this?” asks a family of three generations sickened by the virus and desperate for care in Wuhan. The city’s natives are being ostracized across China.