Two officers are in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, while efforts are underway to trace their contacts when they travelled to a meeting at Defence Headquarters in Canberra.

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WA woman went to concert after virus test

A woman in her 70s who tested positive to the virus after travelling from Cuba via London has become Western Australia's fourth case of coronavirus.

She arrived in Perth on Qantas flight QF10 and was tested at her home in the western suburbs on Friday after falling ill.

Authorities said the woman attended a West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) event on Saturday night and efforts are underway to contact those who sat near to her.

WA's chief health officer Andrew Robertson said the doctor of the woman who attended the WASO event would be asked whether she was asked to self-isolate while awaiting the test results.

The woman has now been isolated in her home.

ADF personnel among the infected

Two members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are in isolation after contracting COVID-19.

The ADF says the two officers travelled to a meeting at Defence Headquarters in Russell, ACT on February 28 — but the ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman says only one did.

"[The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee] has clarified with me that while there are two positive COVID-19 cases in the ADF, only one of those positive cases travelled to Canberra on that day," Dr Coleman said.

She said the man returned a positive test last night.

The male officer, aged in his 40s, travelled on the 6:45am flight QF1509 from Sydney to Canberra to attend a meeting at the Defence Headquarters in Russell.

He then travelled on flight VA651 from Canberra to Sydney at 2:35pm.

He travelled by private car between the airport and Russell.

The two officers travelled to the ADF headquarters in Canberra. ( Supplied: Australian Air Force )

ACT Health says people seated in rows 2 to 6 on the QF1509 flight and those seated in rows 3 to 7 on the VA651 flight need to self-quarantine until March 13.

They should also call the Communicable Disease Hotline on (02) 5124 9213.

The ADF has not released any details about the second case.

There are still no confirmed cases of COVD-19 in the ACT.

Woman from Indonesia unwell on flight to Perth

A woman in her 50s who was unwell on a flight from Jakarta to Perth on February 27 has become Victoria's 12th confirmed case of coronavirus.

The woman, who is a visitor from Indonesia, developed symptoms on February 29 while staying in Perth.

She then arrived in Melbourne on Virgin Airlines flight VA682 on March 2.

On March 6, she saw a GP who ordered a COVID-19 test, which returned a positive result on March 7.

During her time in Melbourne, the woman visited the Pho Hung Vuong 2 Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond on March 6 for about 40 minutes between 6:00pm and 7:00pm.

Authorities are contacting people who were on the Perth to Melbourne flight.

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Ten dead in collapsed quarantine hotel in China

The death toll has risen to ten after a hotel collapsed in the Chinese city of Quanzhou, the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management has announced.

Twenty-three people remain trapped in the five-storey building, which was being used to quarantine about 70 individuals under observation for the coronavirus.

The hotel began to collapse on Saturday evening (local time).

As of Sunday afternoon, authorities had retrieved 48 individuals from the site of the collapse, the ministry said.

Of that total, ten have been confirmed dead, with the rest being treated in hospitals, it said.

Of the 71 people inside the hotel at the time of the collapse, 58 had been under quarantine, it added.

A rescue force of over 1,000 people, including firefighters, police forces, and other emergency responders, arrived at the site on Saturday night, authorities said.

Pictures from the site showed rescue workers clad in hard hats, goggles and face masks carrying injured people to medical staff in white overalls and surgical masks.

Rescuers help a woman from the rubble. ( Chinatopix via AP )

State media said the hotel opened in June 2018 with 80 rooms and was being used to quarantine people during the coronavirus outbreak.

According to state media outlet Xinhua, the owner of the building has been summoned by police.

The building's first floor had been under renovation at the time of the collapse, the news agency said.

According to data from China's National Health Commission, cases fell by roughly one-half on Saturday from the day prior.

The agency confirmed 44 new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus as at the end of March 7, a decline from 99 the previous day.

Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures put in place over a month ago, while authorities keep a close watch on the spread of the virus overseas.

Of the 44 new confirmed cases, 41 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the outbreak.

Iran death toll reaches 194

Iran says the coronavirus has killed 49 more people in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 194 amid 6,566 confirmed cases.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour gave the figures at a news conference.

There are over 6,900 confirmed cases of the new virus across the Middle East.

In Bahrain, the nation's upcoming Formula One race will be run without spectators over fears about the new disease.

Middle East stock markets have also fallen sharply amid plummeting demand for crude oil and OPEC's inability to agree on a production cut.

Workers disinfect the shrine of the Shiite Saint Imam Abdulazim in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran, Iran. ( AP: Ebrahim Noroozi )

ECB tells staff to stay home as a precautionary test

The European Central Bank (ECB) has told most of its 3,500 staff to work from home on Monday to test how it could cope with a shutdown over coronavirus concerns, a spokesperson said on Sunday.

The ECB has cancelled most of its public events over the next month but said its rate-setting Governing Council meeting would go ahead as scheduled on Thursday.

"The ECB has facilities in place for large scale remote working and Monday, March 9 will serve as a precautionary test for the infrastructure but also for ECB staff in case such large scale usage of the facilities becomes necessary at some point," a spokesperson said.

The ECB is expected to unveil further stimulus on Thursday to help the economy cope with consequences of the coronavirus outbreak as travel restrictions, falling stock markets and already evident breakdowns in value chains sap investor confidence.

Bulgaria, Maldives and Bangladesh report first cases

Bulgaria has reported its first four confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Two men from the northern city of Pleven and two women from the city of Gabrovo in central Bulgaria tested positive for the coronavirus following widespread testing, head of the National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Todor Kantardzhiev said.

Meanwhile, the Maldives has curbed movement on several resort islands after the country reported its first two cases of coronavirus.

The two infected people, who are both staff at the Kuredu Island Resort, tested positive on Saturday.

It is believed they caught the virus from an Italian tourist who has since returned to Italy and tested positive there.

People who were in contact with the infected staff members, as well as secondary contacts, are now in quarantine and will be monitored for 14 days.

The island nation has banned travellers who are coming from, transited through, or spent any time in Italy in the past two weeks.

Bangladesh has also confirmed its first three cases of the infection, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

The affected people are aged between 20 and 35 and two of them returned from Italy recently.

Uber pledges to compensate infected drivers

Uber says it will offer compensation to drivers and delivery people diagnosed with COVID-19 or those in quarantine for up to 14 days.

The company plans to offer the measures worldwide, Uber said in a statement.

Bloomberg earlier reported Uber had already compensated five quarantined, but non-infected, drivers in the UK and Mexico.

A quarter of Italy's population in lockdown

Italy has imposed a virtual lockdown on its wealthiest and most populous region, which includes the financial and fashion capital Milan.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree that imposed new restrictions on the movement of people in the region of Lombardy, which is home to 10 million people, and 14 other provinces, including Venice, Parma and Modena.

The entry and exit to and from these areas will be allowed only in exceptional cases.

The new measures will apply to about a quarter of the Italian population and will be in force at least until April 3.

Italy has seen its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the outbreak broke out in the north of the country on February 21.

In its daily update, Italy's civil protection agency said the number of people with the coronavirus rose by 1,247 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 5,883.

Another 36 people also died as a result of the virus, taking the country's total to 233.

Milan is recognised as one of the world's most important fashion capitals. ( AP: Luca Bruno )

Queensland confirms its 15th case

A 38-year-old woman in Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast, who travelled from London through Dubai has become the 15th confirmed case of the virus in Queensland.

She is being treated in an isolation room at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital and is in a stable condition.

Queensland's Health Minister Steven Miles said the department was tracing those who had been in contact with her.

"At this stage it is not clear whether she was symptomatic or contagious [when she was on the plane] and that's the work Queensland Health officials are doing with her right now," he said.

"The chief health office points out that aeroplanes have gotten a lot better in terms of their ventilation, their air filtering, so the risk of contracting on an aeroplane is perhaps lower than first thought.

"Right now everyone who is confirmed to have coronavirus we want to keep them in hospital so we can monitor their isolation on provide them with the best possible care."

The department is also contacting people who were seated near two other patients who travelled on Thai Airways flight TG473 on February 26 as well as Qantas flights QF2 on February 29 and QF52 on March 2.

Elderly patient dies after COVID-19 diagnosis

NSW Health has confirmed an 82-year-old man died overnight after testing positive to the virus, marking the third coronavirus-related death in Australia.

He was from the same aged care facility where another resident, a 95-year-old woman, died on Tuesday night.

Both residents at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park were infected after coming into contact with an aged care worker.

The nursing home released a statement last night saying there were no new cases of COVID-19 at its facility.

Dorothy Henderson Lodge residents came into contact with an infected aged care worker. ( ABC News: Liv Casben )

Meanwhile, NSW Health confirmed the number of cases in the state had risen to 38 as of Sunday morning.

One of the new cases is a female healthcare worker at Ryde Hospital in Sydney's north.

Overnight, NSW Health confirmed the diagnoses of two men — one his 60s who recently returned from Italy and a man in his 40s who is a known close contact of a previously confirmed case.

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First death recorded in South America

A 64-year-old man has died in Argentina after contracting COVID-19, the first coronavirus death in Latin America.

The man lived in Buenos Aires came down with a cough, fever and sore throat following a recent trip to Europe.

Health authorities say he suffered kidney failure and already had diabetes, hypertension and bronchitis before being infected with the virus.

He had been in intensive care since being admitted to a public hospital on Wednesday (local time).

Diamond Princess quarantine an 'adventure'

A Melbourne family who were kept in quarantine in Japan after escaping the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship said they treated it like "an adventure".

Aun Na Tan, her husband Jeff Soh, daughter Kaitlyn and son Xander arrived back in Melbourne on Sunday morning.

They had to spend an extra two weeks in quarantine after Kaitlyn tested positive — just hours before the evacuation flight departed.

Ms Tan said they were worried at first but were in daily communication with the Australian Government and soon calmed down.

"We decided to look at it as an adventure," she said.

The family arrived back in Melbourne on Sunday. ( ABC News )

Mr Soh said he enjoyed his time on the Diamond Princess, as the family worked, watched movies and played games.

He said Kaitlyn had been cleared to go back to school but the rest of the family were going to self-isolate "just to give everyone else peace of mind".

Confirmed case at conference attended by Trump

Organisers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) said an attendee of its annual Washington DC-area conference last month has tested positive for coronavirus.

US President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence attended the conference.

Mr Trump made a speech on stage at the event. ( AP: Jose Luis Magana )

Organisers said the affected person had "no interaction" with Mr Trump or Mr Pence and did not attend events in the conference's main hall.

"The Trump administration is aware of the situation, and we will continue regular communication with all appropriate government officials," the American Conservative Union's statement said.

The conference was held on February 26 to 29 in Fort Washington, Maryland.

Other prominent speakers at the conference were US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law who acts as a senior adviser to the President.

Coles limits toilet paper purchases to one pack per person

Other stores have already applied limits on these panic purchases. ( ABC News: Freya Michie )

Coles has applied a one-pack purchase limit on toilet paper as Australian panic-buying continues.

Woolworths and Costco have already applied limits on purchases as shelves have been cleared and fights have broken out, with police needing to be called in some cases.

Coles said the limit applied to in-store and online purchases to help improve access for customers.

"Our suppliers have increased production and we are making additional deliveries to stores, while our team members work hard to restock shelves in stores," a Coles spokesperson said.

"The vast majority of products in our stores and via Coles online remain available for customers.

"This additional measure will allow us to maintain stock levels in stores so more customers will be able to purchase the products they need."

But not everyone's stockpiling.

Lucy and Addyson in the Far North Queensland town of Mareeba used their pocket money to buy boxes of tissues and toilet paper.

Petrina McGuire submitted a photo of the two going door-to-door at the local pensioner cottages, offering the supplies to residents.

The pair used their pocket money to buy toilet paper and tissues for their delivery run. ( Supplied: Petrina McGuire )

Cruise on the Nile quarantined

A cruise ship on Egypt's Nile River with over 150 tourists and local crew has been quarantined in the southern city of Luxor, with authorities saying 45 people on board have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

A Taiwanese-American tourist who had previously been on the same ship tested positive when she returned to Taiwan, the World Health Organisation (WHO) informed Egyptian authorities, who then tested everyone on the ship.

Health authorities first found that a dozen of the ship's Egyptian crew members had contracted the fast-spreading virus, and said they did not show symptoms, according to a joint statement from Egypt's Health Ministry and the WHO.

Officials said the 45 would be transferred to isolation in a hospital on Egypt's north coast, while the passengers and remaining crew were quarantined on the ship to await test results.

The 12 infected crew were isolated on the third floor of the vessel away from the tourists, including two children, the 30-year-old chef said. The tourists then waited for test results.

The cruise started in Luxor, about 655 kilometres south of Cairo and made three stops before reaching its destination at Aswan. On the return trip there were three more stops, Mr Salah said, potentially expanding the number of people exposed to the virus.

"It's still unclear how many people came in contact with the group in the infected ship," a senior police officer in Luxor said.

Cruise ships on the Nile often dock side by side, with passengers getting on and off by walking through several other vessels.

Pope to deliver prayer via video amid coronavirus outbreak

Pope Francis will deliver his next two public blessings via video to prevent crowds from gathering as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

The Vatican said that on Sunday he would not address crowds from a window overlooking St Peter's Square and would not hold his general audience there either on Wednesday.

Pope Francis has been suffering from a cold. ( Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters )

They will be held without general public participation from inside the Vatican.

The 83-year-old Pope cancelled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy, but the Vatican has said he is suffering only from a cold that is "without symptoms related to other pathologies".

Tens of thousands of people gather in the square every Sunday and thousands of others attend his weekly general audience, which is held either outdoors in the square or in a large audience hall inside the Vatican, depending on the weather.

A Vatican employee tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, the first case in the tiny city-state that is surrounded by Rome.

Death tolls and infection cases rise in Europe

The death toll from Italy's coronavirus outbreak has risen by 36 to 233 officials said, with the official number of cases in the country now at 5,883 cases from 4,636 cases on Friday.

France's Health Ministry said on Saturday that two more people had died from the coronavirus, bringing the total death toll to 11 people.

Italy's infection cases and death toll have risen. ( Reuters: Flavio Lo Scalzo )

One of the two fatalities was confirmed in the northern part of France, the other in Normandy, the ministry said in a statement.

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France has now 716 confirmed cases of coronavirus, an increase of 103 compared with a day earlier, the ministry said.

Great Britain also saw its second death caused by COVID-19, with a man in his early 80s who had underlying health conditions dying in Milton Keynes University Hospital.

The number of confirmed cases in the United Kingdom has increased to 206, a rise of 43.

Meanwhile, Germany's number of infection cases has jumped to 684 on Saturday morning, an increase of 45 over Friday night according to the country's public health agency.

The cases are concentrated in the west and south of the country, with 346 in the state of North Rhine Westphalia and over 100 each in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the country's initial cases were registered.

The official total of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 60 on Saturday to 188, health officials said.

12-year-old girl first case in Malta

Malta has confirmed its first coronavirus case, a 12-year-old girl of Italian origin who lives in the Mediterranean island nation with her family.

Health Minister Chris Fearne said the girl and her family had visited northern Italy in late February and early March, returning to Malta via Rome.

The family self-quarantined as instructed but the girl started to experience symptoms.

She was tested on Friday and results came back positive on Saturday morning.

The girl is being held in an isolated section of Malta's main public hospital, together with her sister and parents.

State-by-state breakdown

Here are the numbers of cases that have been recorded in each state and territory:

NSW: 38 cases

38 cases Queensland: 15 cases

15 cases Victoria: 12 cases

12 cases South Australia: seven cases

seven cases Western Australia: four cases

four cases Tasmania: two cases

two cases Northern Territory: one case

one case Total: 79 cases