Coronavirus death toll in China hits 41 as medical staff struggle to cope

Fifteen more people have been confirmed dead in Hubei province from a deadly new coronavirus, according to the provincial health authority, raising the death toll to 41 in mainland China, CNN reports.

Authorities in China have imposed indefinite travel restrictions on tens of millions of people across 11 cities in an unprecedented effort to contain the spread, as hospitals at the epicenter of the outbreak struggle to handle a surge in new patients.

The virus, which was first discovered in the city of Wuhan in December, has spread to every province in China, except the remote autonomous regions of Qinghai and Tibet.

Another 180 cases of the virus were confirmed in Hubei, said the provincial health authority. This raises the total number of confirmed Wuhan coronavirus cases to more than 1,200 in mainland China.