China's top leadership has admitted "shortcomings and deficiencies" in the country's response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak, APA reports citing BBC.
The Politburo Standing Committee said the national emergency management system had to improve.
A crackdown on wildlife markets, where the virus emerged, has been ordered.
By the end of Monday, more than 20,000 cases and 425 deaths had been reported in China - an increase of more than 3,000 confirmed cases in a single day.
On Monday alone, there had been 64 new deaths, China's National Health Commission said - all in Hubei province, where the virus is believed to have originated.
The number of deaths in China, excluding Hong Kong, now exceeds the 349 killed on the mainland in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak of 2002-03.
There are more than 150 cases in other countries, with one death in the Philippines.
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