Chinese authorities have launched an official smartphone app to tell its citizens whether or not they have been near a confirmed or suspected coronavirus patient.

The software, named the 'close contact detector', is set to track the movements of more than one billion users while allowing them to find out information about nearby patients using the country's mass surveillance system.

Users will need to link the programme to a phone number along with their name and ID details, according to Xinhua News Agency, a co-developer of the service.

The software, named the 'close contact detector', allows residents to find out if they are at the risk of being infected by showing suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients in their area

Concerned Chinese people made more than 100 million enquiries within hours after the app was launched by Xinhua and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology

The app was officially released on Monday and is set to cover nearly one billion residents in the country.

And by 6pm that day, concerned Chinese people had already made more than 100 million enquiries, said Xinhua.

It was developed by Economic Information Daily, a branch of Xinhua, as well as China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Prior to its launch, the public had already been using similar apps developed by commercial firms, such as Yi Kuang and Yi Xiao Zou.

They allow users to check about diagnosed and potential carriers in different radius, usually between one and three kilometres.

The new coronavirus has killed at least 1,370 people and infected more than 60,380 globally

The new strain of coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, has so far killed at least 1,370 people and infected more than 60,380 worldwide.

China has connected its citizens behaviour during health checks to their social credit accounts in the wake of the epidemic.

One city has reportedly penalised nine people using the national scheme after they deliberately withheld information about their health and travels.

The individuals, all from the city of Hangzhou, were said to have refused to provide personal details in an honest way during community health checks in a bid to avoid being quarantined.

The nine people were blacklisted yesterday by local authorities, according to Hangzhou Daily which published their full names and part of their ID numbers.

The Chinese city of Hangzhou has linked its residents' performance during coronavirus health checks with the country's social credit system. People who deliberately withhold and conceal information about their health and travel history are subjected to be penalised by the scheme

The city's authority has urged the public to give authentic information about themselves and their family members to health workers in a bid to stop the spread of the fast-spreading virus

Across China 254 people yesterday died of coronavirus - including 242 in Hubei - on the deadliest day of the outbreak so far. The daily death toll is more than seven and a half times the fatality figure on Wednesday and takes the number of global victims to 1,369.

Another 15,152 Chinese citizens were confirmed to be infected yesterday, compared to 2,015 cases the day before.

This means a total of at least 60,380 people worldwide, including 59,804 in China, have so far been sicken by the coronavirus.

And, today, an 80-year-old woman in Japan has died with the coronavirus and become the country's first recorded victim.

The death makes Japan just the third place outside of China to declare someone has died from the virus, along with Hong Kong and the Philippines.