The head of the World Health Organization is warning that a few cases of the novel coronavirus that have been spread by people who never traveled to China could be "the tip of the iceberg," as officials reported the highest single-day death toll since the epidemic began.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that meanwhile, Chinese authorities lashed out at Western media reports that Beijing was not fully cooperating with international health experts.

Late Sunday, China said there had been 97 new deaths, a daily record since the epidemic began, bringing the total number of deaths in China to 909, with 40,235 confirmed cases. There have been more than 300 other confirmed cases worldwide and one additional confirmed death outside of China.