Governments are stepping up efforts to contain infections, as more cases are reported outside China.
Iran announced 11 more deaths from coronavirus bringing its death toll to 54, the most outside China.
The number infected in Italy – the centre of the outbreak in Europe – jumped to 1,694, while the number in France increased to 130. With the outbreak deepening, the staff at the Louvre in Paris voted to close the hugely popular museum.
The Czech Republic, Scotland and the Dominican Republic have all confirmed their first cases.
Monday, March 2
04:45 GMT – China counting methods may underplay extent of outbreak – Caixin
There’s an interesting report from Caixin, which managed to get hold of data from the province of Heilongjiang in the northeast, on the way in which China is counting coronavirus infections.
While the National Health Commission has demanded since the beginning of last month that local authorities include “asymptomatic infected individuals” in the coronavirus data, it seems not all are doing so.
Caixin says that in Heilongjiang there were 104 asymptomatic cases in the province on February 25, but they were not included in its 408 “confirmed cases”.
The Caixin reporter, David Yin, has more on his Twitter feed. Caixin is an independent financial media and research group.
04:20 GMT – Indonesia confirms first two cases
Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo says two Indonesians have tested positive for the coronavirus and are in hospital.
There has been speculation about the absence of cases in Indonesia, since a Chinese tourist who returned from the holiday island of Bali was confirmed to have the infection.
We’ll give you more details as we get them.
04:15 GMT – Australia warns can’t stop spread of coronavirus from overseas
Australia’s chief medical officer has said it’s no longer possible to completely prevent people with the coronavirus from entering the country.
“It is no longer possible to absolutely prevent new cases coming in,” Brendan Murphy, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, told reporters in Canberra.
“We have got concerns about Japan and South Korea. They are working hard to control their outbreaks but we are still concerned that people in those countries and other high risk countries may present with an infection.”
Australia has confirmed 29 cases of coronavirus.
03:30 GMT – Kazakhstan to bar Iranian nationals
The government in Kazakhstan has announced it will bar Iranian nationals from the country from March 5, as part of a range of measures to tackle the coronavirus.
It is also reducing the number of flights to and from Azerbaijan, which borders Iran, according to Reuters, and will no longer issue work permits to people from countries hit by the virus.
02:50 GMT – Murder probe sought for S. Korea sect at centre of outbreak
Officials in Seoul are accusing the church at the epicentre of South Korea’s growing coronavirus outbreak of murder.
A case has been filed with prosecutors, claiming the leaders of Shincheonji – the Christian church where the first cases were reported – are liable for the outbreak because they didn’t cooperate with efforts to stop the disease.
Park Won-soon, mayor of the capital Seoul, said if Lee and other leaders of the church had cooperated, effective preventive measures could have saved those who later died of the virus.
“The situation is this serious and urgent, but where are the leaders of the Shincheonji, including Lee Man-hee, the chief director of this crisis?” Park said in a post on his Facebook page late on Sunday
02:25 GMT – Washington state reports second death
The state of Washington on the west coast of Seattle has reported its second death from coronavirus.
Ian Morse, who is reporting from the area for Al Jazeera, says the person who died was a resident in the same nursing home where two cases of the virus were previously reported.
The man was in his 70s, according to Reuters, citing local health officials.
02:05 GMT South Korea reports nearly 500 new cases, four deaths
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has released the first of its twice daily updates on the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea – the largest outside China.
The KCDC says four people died overnight and 476 new cases of the virus were confirmed.
In total, 22 people have now died from COVID-19 in South Korea with 4,212 people infected.
01:25 GMT Worldwide death toll from the coronavirus passes 3,000
China has announced its latest data on the coronavirus outbreak, reporting 42 new deaths.
That takes the death toll in China to 2,912, and worldwide to more than 3,000.
The National Health Commission says the latest deaths were all in the worst-hit province of Hubei with most of those in its sealed-off capital of Wuhan.
Officials said there were also 202 new infections. That’s the lowest since the end of January.
01:20 GMT New York state confirms first case
Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, said the US state had confirmed its first case of coronavirus in someone who had recently returned from Iran.
23:58 GMT Algeria confirms two more cases of coronavirus – health ministry
23:30 GMT Egypt detects second case of coronavirus – health ministry
A foreigner in Egypt has tested positive for the coronavirus, the country’s health ministry said in a Facebook post.
The person has been taken to an isolation hospital. It has not revealed their nationality.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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