Coronavirus death toll crosses 700 in China, set to surpass SARS pandemic

The death toll in China rose by 86 to 722 on Saturday, and is poised to pass the 774 deaths recorded globally during the 2002-2003 pandemic of SARS, another coronavirus.

An American became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim of the new coronavirus on Saturday while a Japanese man also died with symptoms consistent with the disease, as the epidemic looked set to pass the death toll from the SARS pandemic.

The 60-year old US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at Jinyintan Hospital in China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak, on Feb. 6, a US embassy spokesman in Beijing said.

"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," the spokesman told Reuters. "Out of the respect for the family's privacy, we have no further comment."