Four new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the GTA on Sunday, as the number of countries reporting infection surpassed 60, with some shuttering schools and banning public gatherings to get ahead of the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed more than 3,000 lives worldwide.

The newly diagnosed in the Greater Toronto Area include the 50-year-old brother of a man who became infected after travelling to Iran, and a man in his 40s whose wife, 34, was diagnosed Saturday. The couple had recently travelled to Iran with their toddler.

A man in his 60s who returned from Iran on Feb. 23 was also diagnosed Sunday. He sought treatment at North York General Hospital’s emergency department on Friday, after developing a cough.

A woman in her 70s from Newmarket tested positive after coming into contact with someone who contracted the virus in Egypt. She was tested and assessed at Southlake Regional Health Centre on Saturday.

All four are in self-isolation. There have been 15 cases in the province.

More than 88,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus.

A study by Chinese researchers published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzing 1,099 patients at more than 500 hospitals throughout China, calculated a death rate of 1.4 per cent, substantially lower than earlier studies that focused on patients in Wuhan, where the outbreak started and has been most severe.

In Hamilton, a McMaster University student has been in self-isolation since Friday awaiting test results. The student developed flu-like symptoms after travelling to Italy during reading week. The student was at the Burke Science Building last Tuesday. Officials at the university, attended by 30,000 students, said the building and all public spaces have since been thoroughly cleaned.

Meanwhile, Metrolinx is using data from Presto cards to identify approximately 35 people who rode a bus with the 34-year-old York Region woman who contracted the virus in Iran. The woman took the eastbound GO bus No. 40 at about 3:55 p.m. on Wednesday from Pearson airport to Richmond Hill Centre.

The following day, she went to Mackenzie Health hospital in Richmond Hill with a dry cough, runny nose, shortness of breath and a headache.

Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region’s medical officer of health, said the region is not seeing any evidence of community transmission at the moment.

“It is important to emphasize that these cases are all travel-related and we are working towards containing any risk to the community — a goal we have already achieved for several of these cases,” said Kurji in a statement. “We wish to stress that we are not seeing any evidence of community transmission within York Region and we are striving to keep it that way.”

There have been no reported cases of community transmission in Toronto.

Geographic clusters of infection have emerged in Italy, Iran and South Korea, which has confirmed the second-largest number of virus infections outside mainland China. In all, 4,212 cases have been reported in South Korea, with 22 fatalities.

The United States, meanwhile, recorded its first two deaths, a man in his 50s in Washington state who had underlying health conditions but who hadn’t travelled to any affected areas, and a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle.

China on Sunday reported 202 new cases in an update on Monday. The country’s cases hit 80,026 and remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan.

Iran’s death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, climbed to 54 as the number of confirmed cases jumped overnight to 978 people. The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday and 385 new cases.

The outbreak in Iran has prompted its neighbours to seal their borders to Iranians, while other Gulf states have halted flights to Iran.

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Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan announced they would close, and big events were cancelled, including a concert series by the K-pop supergroup BTS.

Panic-buying of daily necessities emerged in Japan, while tourist sites across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were deserted. Schools in Hong Kong and Japan are closed, and a high school in Dublin has been closed for 14 days after a student tested positive. He is being treated in hospital.

In Paris, priests stopped placing sacramental bread in worshippers’ mouths. The archbishop of Paris advised parish priests to place the bread in the hands of parishioners. France closed the Louvre Museum with workers concerned about the large flow of tourists.

Thailand reported its first death from the disease on Sunday, a 35-year old Thai man who worked as a salesperson and had contact with foreign tourists.

Italian authorities say the country now has more than 1,100 coronavirus cases, with 29 deaths so far.

With files from Margaryta Ignatenko, Jacob Lorinc, The Hamilton Spectator and The Associated Press

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