A Change In How 1 Chinese Province Reports Coronavirus Adds Thousands Of Cases

China's official death toll and infection numbers from the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed their counting methods.China's Hubei province expanded its criteria for identifying new coronavirus infections on Thursday, causing a dramatic spike in reported cases at the epicenter of the disease, as Beijing moved to purge provincial party officials amid criticism of their handling of the epidemic.Hubei, where the majority of the world's infections have been concentrated, added a new category of "clinical cases" to its reporting. However, the new reporting criteria from Hubei has thrown previous estimates of the disease's progression in China into disarray.If the same counting method is adopted nationwide, it would disrupt the trend lines even further.Officials held accountableMeanwhile, China's central government on Thursday appointed the former mayor of Shanghai, Ying Yong, to replace Jiang Chaoliang, the ruling Communist Party chief in Hubei, state-run Xinhua news agency said.The high-level shakeup is testament to how seriously Beijing is taking widespread criticism from abroad and, most unusually, from the public at home, with many Chinese having taken to social media to express their frustration.Academics in China, angered by the silencing of a whistleblower doctor who tried to sound the alarm in the early days of the epidemic and later succumbed to the disease himself, have also signed a public petition to "demand free speech," the South China Morning Post reports.Jiang's ouster follows the firing of two of the province's top health officials earlier this week. Schools and universities are also closed until further notice.Fear of contagion has also caused the U.S., and much of Asia and Europe, to implement travel restrictions on visitors from China.In Japan, a cruise liner, the Diamond Princess, has been in quarantine for days in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, as the number of confirmed cases aboard continues to rise.Japan's health ministry said Thursday that 44 new cases had been identified on the giant cruise ship, bringing the total to 218 among the vessel's 3,700 passengers and crew.Another cruise ship, the MS Westerdam, which made port calls last month in Singapore and Hong Kong – two places that have reported coronavirus cases — has prompted fear and concern from officials in many countries.