Hong Kong | China is struggling to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus which has claimed 813 lives after reaching a record daily death toll over the weekend, with President Xi Jinping under growing pressure to tackle public anger over the death of a whistleblower doctor.

Plans to kick-start the economy were also on hold in parts of the country due to fears that hundreds of millions of people scheduled to return to work in China on Monday after a three-week shutdown would accelerate the spread of the virus. Many factories were electing to remain closed and some companies told staff to work from home.