The news seemed to be positive: The number of new coronavirus cases reported in China over the past week suggested that the outbreak might be slowing — that containment efforts were working.

But on Thursday, officials added more than 14,840 cases to the tally of the infected in Hubei province alone, bringing the total number to 48,206, the largest one-day increase so far recorded. The death toll in the province rose to 1,310, including 242 new deaths.

The sharp rise in reported cases illustrates how hard it has been for scientists to grasp the extent and severity of the coronavirus outbreak in China, particularly inside the epicenter, where thousands of sick people remain untested for the illness.

Confronted by so many people with symptoms and no easy way to test them, authorities appear to have changed the way the illness is identified.

Read the entire story at New York Times. Peter Rabinowitz, Director of the UW MetaCenter for Pandemic Disease Preparedness and Global Health Security, is quoted.