Hong Kong University study says China fudged coronavirus numbers 

Did China fudge coronavirus numbers? If a study published by scientists at Hong Kong University is anything to go by, China did fudge.

The research projects as many as 75,000 people in Wuhan may have been infected with the coronavirus. 

According to the study, published in the journal The Lancet, given the lack of robust and detailed records of suspected, probable, and confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV), the true size of the epidemic, and its pandemic potential remain unclear.

"Not everyone who is infected with 2019-nCoV would require or seek medical attention. During the urgent demands of a rapidly expanding epidemic of a completely new virus, especially when system capacity is getting overwhelmed, some of those infected may be undercounted in the official register," explained study senior author Gabriel Leung from the University of Hong Kong.

Wuhan, the city of 11 million people,  has been on virtual lockdown for weeks as China seeks to stem the spread of the deadly virus. 

The death toll from the coronavirus in China has risen to 304 with nearly 14, 300-hundred confirmed cases globally.

The virus has spread to nearly 25 countries.

The city of Huanggang in China's Hubei province has reported 726 confirmed novel coronavirus cases. Wuhan- the epicentre of the virus is also in the same city

Meanwhile, China continues to race against time to build two hospitals for coronavirus patients in Wuhan.

One of the hospitals is scheduled to open on February 3 while the other is expected to be ready by February 5.