On Sunday, authorities reported 2,009 new cases and 142 more deaths nationwide.

New cases spiked earlier in the week after a change in the way they were counted but have been falling ever since.

In total more than 68,000 people have been infected in China, with the death toll standing at 1,665.

Outside China there have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 countries.

Taiwan reported its first death from the illness on Sunday. The victim was a man in his 60s, who had not travelled abroad recently but who had diabetes and hepatitis B, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.