Coronavirus kills 259 in China

Beijing: Chinese authorities on Saturday confirmed that the death toll from the deadly novel coronavirus in the country has increased to 259, with 11,791 infected cases in 31 provincial-level regions.

The National Health Commission said that 1,795 patients remained in critical condition, and 17,988 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of Friday night. A total of 243 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery. Friday saw 2,102 new confirmed cases, 5,019 new suspected cases, and 46 deaths.

As the coronavirus was spreading at an accelerated rate, the US on Friday declared a public health emergency. On Saturday, Australia said it would refuse entry to all non-citizens arriving from China and nationals coming from the Asian country would be quarantined for two weeks. South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand were all expected to quarantine evacuees for two weeks to monitor them for symptoms.

'China covering up number of NCoV'

A British teacher, who is stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is the epicentre of the outbreak, has said that authorities were covering up the actual number of fatalities due to the disease, a media report said. Tom Ellender, 37, said he was now "running low" on face masks and told the Metro daily that he "doesn't know what is going to happen" next to the others still stuck there.

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