HANGZHOU, Jan. 13 -- Three new human cases of H7N9 bird flu were reported in east China's Zhejiang Province over the weekend, the provincial health authorities said on Monday.

The newly reported cases include a 75-year-old woman surnamed Li, from Zhuji City; a 78-year-old man surnamed Zong from Yiwu City and a 34-year-old man surnamed Meng from Ningbo City.

Li was confirmed to be infected with the disease on Saturday and has died, according to the provincial health authorities. The two others are now in critical condition.

The three new cases bring the total cases reported in Zhejiang Province to seven in 2014.

So far this year, human cases of the bird flu virus have also been reported in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangsu, and Guangdong as well as in Shanghai Municipality.