People dressed in protective clothes disinfect an area in Wuhan, in Hubei province on Jan 30, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal) The hard-hit central province of Hubei reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients – by far its biggest one-day tally since the crisis erupted last month. The jump raised the death toll to 1,355 and the total number of nationwide infections to nearly 60,000 – just hours after President Xi Jinping touted “positive results” from the government’s drastic measures to contain the virus and a top Chinese expert predicted the epidemic would peak this month. Officials in Hubei said they were broadening their definition for COVID-19 cases by including people “clinically diagnosed” with the virus in the daily tally. This means officials can use lung imaging on suspected cases to diagnose the virus, rather than the standard nucleic acid tests. Hubei health commission said the change would mean patients could get treatment “as early as possible” and be “consistent” with the classification used in other provinces. It said it had made the change “as our understanding of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus deepens, and as we accumulate experience in diagnosis and treatment”. China has placed…