China to stagger back to work as virus deaths surpass SARS toll

FILE PHOTO: A worker in a protective suit examines specimens inside a laboratory following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 6, 2020. Picture taken on February 6, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS

China raised the death toll from the coronavirus epidemic to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic in 2002/2003 and raising anxiety among people preparing to return to work after an extended Lunar New Year break.