California has declared a state of emergency after a cruise ship passenger became the first person in the state to die from coronavirus.

The 71-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions, died in a hospital in Placer County, near Sacramento.

His brings the death toll to 11 in the US, where there are now at least 150 cases across 16 states, including 53 in California.

Health officials say the man was one of two passengers who likely caught the illness on board the Grand Princess cruise liner during a trip between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

The ship later went on to Hawaii and returned to its home port of San Francisco on Wednesday after 20 people fell ill on board.

California governor Gavin Newsom said the cruise liner, which is carrying thousands of travellers, will remain at sea until passengers and crew complaining of symptoms can be tested for coronavirus.

He added that state health authorities are working alongside the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to contact some 2,500 passengers who were on the earlier voyage.

Mr Newsom declared a state-wide emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak after health authorities confirmed 53 cases of coronavirus in California — the most of any single US state.

The death of the former cruise passenger in California marked the first coronavirus fatality in the US outside of Washington, where 10 people have died in a cluster of at least 39 infections in the Seattle area.

Washington and Florida both declared states of emergency over the weekend, and Hawaii also joined them Wednesday.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Empty El Al Israel Airlines check-in counters are seen at Ben Gurion International airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen AMIR COHEN Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing This picture taken on February 14, 2020 shows two men wearing face masks walking through a nearly empty terminal at Daxing international airport in Beijing, as travel has ground to a halt in the wake of the the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images) NICOLAS ASFOURI AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan epa08238057 The empty departure hall of the No 2 Terminal at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, northen Taiwan, 22 February 2020. The coronavirus causing COVID-19 disease which originated from Wuhan, China, has devastated Taiwan's tourism and aviation industries, forcing airlines to cancel flights and travel agencies to lay off workers or close. EPA/DAVID CHANG DAVID CHANG EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam A woman walks in the nearly empty arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on February 27, 2020, as the number of air travellers has plummeted amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images) MLADEN ANTONOV AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo A man wearing protective face mask, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, pushes his luggage past desks, closed for construction, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov STOYAN NENOV Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China A woman wearing a face mask stands in the empty luggage collection hall at the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter THOMAS PETER Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China epaselect epa08194188 A passenger wearing a protective mask stands in the empty hall of Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China, 04 February 2020 (issued 05 February 2020). Major global airlines have canceled their flights to mainland China to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has so far killed at least 493 people and infected more that 24,000, mostly in China. EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY ROMAN PILIPEY EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing This picture taken on February 14, 2020 shows a salesclerk wearing a protective face mask and gloves (R) at an empty duty free shop at Daxing international airport in Beijing, as travel has ground to a halt in the wake of the the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images) NICOLAS ASFOURI AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo An empty departures gate is pictured at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov STOYAN NENOV Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China epa08194181 Passengers wearing protective masks sit in the empty hall of Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China, 04 February 2020 (issued 05 February 2020). Major global airlines have canceled their flights to and from mainland China to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has so far killed at least 493 people and infected more that 24,000, mostly in China. EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY ROMAN PILIPEY EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam Passengers with protective facemasks walk with their luggage in the empty arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on February 27, 2020, as the number of air travellers has plummeted amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images) MLADEN ANTONOV AFP via Getty

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $8.3bn (about £6.4bn) to combat the spread of the coronavirus and develop vaccines on Wednesday. It will now need to be approved by the Senate.

There are now more than 95,300 cases worldwide and more than 3,200 people have died.

Italy shut all of its schools and universities from Thursday, until 15 March. The death toll there has risen to 107 while cases total almost 3,090.

Scientists in China studying the disease caused by the new coronavirus, named Covid-19, say they have found two main strains of the virus are circulating in humans and causing infections.

They said they found a more aggressive strain of the virus, associated with the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which accounted for about 70 per cent of analysed cases, while 30 per cent were linked to a less aggressive type.

The researchers, from Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, cautioned they had studied limited data and follow-up studies of larger data sets would be needed to better understand the virus’s evolution.