Why the number of coronavirus cases in China surged by more than 33% in one day

Just a day after China reported a dip in new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus—the lowest in almost two weeks—the province at the center of the outbreak announced a massive jump in infections, bringing the national total to almost 60,000 confirmed cases. On Thursday (Feb. 13), health officials in Hubei province reported they had recorded 14,840 additional cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the province total to 48,206 (link in Chinese). The number of new deaths also more than doubled to 242, bringing the total death count in the province to 1,310.