BEIJING: The death toll from China’s 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD) outbreak soared to 722 on Saturday, including the first foreign victim, as Hong Kong imposed a mandatory quarantine on mainland arrivals to block the spread of an epidemic that has caused global panic.

With 86 more people dying in mainland China — the highest one-day jump so far — the toll was closing in on the 774 killed worldwide during the 2002 to 2003 sever acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.