The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “undiminished vigilance”, saying the situation in virus-hit Wuhan still remains severe, despite positive progress.

China's National Health Commission said that it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection, and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.

All the deaths were in the epicentre of the virus, Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, which continued to be the ground zero of COVID-19.

Also on Wednesday, 143 new suspected cases were reported while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952, the NHC said, adding that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus. The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 80,409 by the end of Wednesday.

This included 3,012 people who have died of the disease, 25,352 patients still undergoing treatment and 52,045 patients who have been discharged.

By the end of Wednesday, 20 imported cases have been reported, the commission said. 43 patients in Hong Kong, nine in Macao and 12 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

South Korea's total number of novel coronavirus cases -- the largest outside China, approached 6,000 as authorities announced a ban on face mask exports.

South Korea declared a "special care zone" around Gyeongsan, promising extra resources such as face masks and warning people from travelling there.

Japan confirmed over 1,037 coronavirus cases, and so far 12 people have died due to the infection. Nearly all schools are closed after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for classes to be cancelled through March and spring break, slated for late March through early April.

Italy reported a total of 107 deaths of the deadly coronavirus, taking the total number to 3,089.Italy ordered on Wednesday that all major sporting events be held behind closed doors until April 3 as the country grapples with the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

In Iran, the deadly infection claimed 92 lives out of more than 2,922 cases. Iran will temporarily release 54,000 people from prisons and deploy hundreds of thousands of health workers as officials announced a slew of measures to contain the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China.

The US' death toll from the Covid-19 rose to 11 on Thursday and nationwide there are nearly 160 confirmed cases. U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved an $8.3 billion bill to combat the spread of the new coronavirus and develop vaccines for the highly-contagious disease, sending it to the Senate for final passage.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus in the state, which now has 53 confirmed cases.

21 new cases of Covid-19 in France

France said that 21 new cases of Covid-19 had been identified with a total of 285 cases now diagnosed, of which 12 were cured and four have died. Some 120 schools closed in France this week in areas with the largest numbers of infections.

