BEIJING: The death toll due to the deadly coronavirus in China has reached 722, Sputnik reported citing Chinese authorities on Saturday.

According to the country's health officials, the number of people, who died of the deadly coronavirus in the Hubei province has risen to 699.

A US citizen has died from the new coronavirus at the epicentre of the epidemic in China, the US embassy said Saturday, in what appears to be the first confirmed foreign death from the outbreak.

"We can confirm that a 60-year-old US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on February 6," an embassy spokesman told AFP.

The number of infected people has also increased to 34,646.

"As of 24:00 on 7 February, Hubei Province has reported 24,953 cases of pneumonia caused by new coronavirus infection, including 13,603 cases in Wuhan. At present, 19,835 cases are still being treated in the hospital, while 67,802 people are still undergoing medical observation", read the statement from the Chinese Regional Health Committee.

The virus was diagnosed first in December in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and has spread to most parts of the world.

Earlier, two casualties were reported outside mainland China -- one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines. Thus, taking the worldwide toll to 724.