China reports spike in virus cases with new way of counting

Beijing • China on Thursday reported a sharp spike in deaths and infections from a new virus after the hardest-hit province of Hubei applied a new classification system that broadens the scope of diagnoses for the outbreak, which has spread to more than 20 countries.Japan reported its first death, a woman in her 80s who had been hospitalized since early February. She is the third confirmed fatality outside of mainland China, after deaths in the Philippines and Hong Kong.The new diagnostic a