Coronavirus is continuing to spread to new countries, with the number of confirmed cases globally topping 100,000, according to the Centre for Diseases Control.

This story is no longer being updated. For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow this story.

Jump to Saturday's key updates

Leading Italian politician tests positive to coronavirus

The leader of Italy's co-ruling Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, has tested positive for coronavirus.

"I have coronavirus too", Mr Zingaretti said in a video posted on Facebook.

Loading

In the post Mr Zingaretti, who is also president of Italy's Lazio region, said: "Doctors told me I'm positive for COVID-19. I'm fine but I'll have to stay home for the next few days. From here I will continue to follow the work that needs to be done. Cheer up everyone and see you soon!"

He added that he was in self-isolation at home and that all the people he had been in contact with in the latest days were being contacted for checks.

Italy has been the hardest hit country Europe by the epidemic, with a total of 4,636 cases and 197 deaths and is currently reporting more deaths per day form the virus than any other country in the world.

The government this week ordered the closure of schools, universities, cinemas and theatres to stem infections.

11 people have now died of the infection in France

France's Health Ministry has announced two more people have died from the coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 11 people.

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

France has now 716 confirmed cases of coronavirus — an increase of 103 compared with a day earlier.

Six new cases reported in NSW

NSW health authorities reported six new confirmed cases of the virus on Saturday.

That brings the state total up to 34.

The department says five of the new cases are either:

Family members of people with the infection

Family members of people with the infection Those who have been in close contact with someone already diagnosed

The sixth most recent case returned from Italy a week ago on Qatar Airways flight QR 908.

Authorities are continuing screenings of arrivals at Sydney International Airport.

Second case reported in Tasmania

Tasmanian Public Health authorities announced the state has recorded its second confirmed case of coronavirus on Saturday.

The person has been admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Last week a 40-year-old man in Launceston tested positive for the virus after returning from Iran.

China reports lowest daily increase in new cases for seven weeks

China reported just 99 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, its lowest daily increase for seven weeks.

It also reported another 28 deaths, all in the virus epicentre of Hubei province.

China's health authority said the epidemic control nationwide is showing a trend of stable progress.

Overall, China now has 22,177 patients in treatment, while 55,404 have been released.

Children in Shanghai aren't letting the coronavirus outbreak disrupt their playtime. ( Reuters: Aly Song )

Two more deaths in the US

Florida's Health Department has confirmed that two people who tested positive for the virus have died.

Those two patients were in their 70s and had travelled overseas, health authorities said.

The two deaths raised the US toll to 17, according to CNN.

In California, two health workers stationed at Los Angeles International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email sent to their colleagues.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention workers were conducting screenings of passengers arriving from overseas.

They have been directed to self-quarantine until March 17.

"At this time, we cannot confirm where these two screeners were exposed," the email said.

At least one other health screener at the airport has tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, organisers of the South By South West festival have cancelled its Austin events scheduled for later this month.

It's the first time in the popular tech, media and music festival's 34-year history that a cancellation of this scale has taken place.

Loading

Philippines to declare national public health emergency

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte plans to declare a nationwide public health emergency following confirmation of the country's first community transmission of the disease.

Earlier in the day, the nation's health officials said the first local transmission of coronavirus had been recorded and called for measures to contain its spread.

Mr Duterte has agreed to declare a health emergency following the latest development, according to chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and presidential aide Bong Go.

South Korea cases top 7000

South Korea's coronavirus cases jumped above 7,000 on Saturday, up by 448 from the previous day, health authorities said.

The death toll rose by two to 46, according to the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since mid-February when a woman tested positive after attending services at a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southeastern city of Daegu, the number of infections has exploded in South Korea, giving it the most cases outside China.

There are 7,041 cases in total including a new small cluster of cases reported on Saturday at an apartment complex in Daegu, where some members of the church live, the KCDC said.

While 448 new cases remains a sizeable jump, it marked a third straight day of declines in the number of new cases for South Korea.

Workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant as a precaution at Seoul Railway Station. ( AP: Jin Yeon-soo )

Newly-elected female Iranian MP dies of virus

An Iranian MP has died from coronavirus, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday, in another sign the disease is spreading within state institutions.

Iran is one of the countries outside China most affected by the epidemic. The country has reported 5,823 infections.

The MP who died Fatemeh Rahbar, a newly-elected conservative lawmaker from Tehran, Tasnim said.

Ms Rahbar is the first known female politician to die from coronavirus in Iran.

It did not say if she was included in the country's official toll of 145 deaths from the virus.

On March 2, Tasnim reported the death of Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of the Expediency Council.

Can't stop touching your face?

Authorities have warned people to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.

The reasoning is coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by what are known as respiratory droplets — the little secretions we generate when we sneeze or cough.

But, as people have pointed out, it's actually quite difficult to stop.

Some researchers have linked it to primate grooming, but there's also a psychological explanation. We unpack that here.

It's harder to stop touching your face than you'd think. ( Pexels: Andrew Pacquadio )

How does self-isolation work?

Can I walk my dog? Can I get food delivered?

Coronavirus infections and the number of people ordered to isolate themselves has spiked in Australia this week, and so did online searches about what that actually means.

Want to walk your dog?

NSW Health medical epidemiologist Christine Selvey said a walk around the block would be fine — but wear a mask and don't stop to chat with anyone.

As for food deliveries?

Best to instruct the delivery person to leave it at your doorstep. Most apps allow for delivery instructions, but you could also stick a note to your door.

Want to know more? Check out our quarantine guide.

Even celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow are taking precautions. ( Instagram: Gwyneth Paltrow )

Quarantine is already widespread in several countries including China, where at least 50 million people have been under mandatory quarantine in the Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, where the virus first emerged.

NSW Health says people who have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19 and people who have been in China or Iran need to isolate themselves for 14 days from the contact or date of return travel.

Indonesians panic buying herbs

Indonesia has seen a surge in demand for medicinal plants and herbs, amid coronavirus fears.

Herbal tonics known as "jamu" have long been popular in Indonesia.

But news of the first confirmed cases of coronavirus in the nation have prompted a rush on foods such as ginger and turmeric, and prices of both have soared.

A recent study by Indonesia's Airlangga University suggested curcumin — a component of turmeric — could reduce inflammation in the lungs and help boost immunity against the virus.

The number of confirmed cases in Indonesia is now four, since two more people tested positive on Friday. Both were connected to two women confirmed infected with the virus on Monday.

New case in Victoria is doctor who saw 70 patients

A doctor in Victoria has been confirmed as the latest Australian to test positive for coronavirus.

The doctor, who is in his 70s, worked at the Toorak Clinic in Malvern Road and consulted approximately 70 patients in five days, between March 2 and 6.

He had travelled in the United States, and Victorian authorities suspect he picked up the virus after becoming ill on a flight from Denver to San Francisco, before flying from there to Melbourne on United Airlines flight 0060.

The doctor also saw two patients at a nursing home in Malvern.

Victorian authorities have contacted his patients and the medical centre where he was working has been closed.

All patients seen by the doctor are required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days.

The case takes Victoria's total to 11.

NBA star allays coronavirus fears, tennis players get towelled up

Trae Young has missed the Atlanta Hawks' match with the Washington Wizards due to flu-like symptoms, prompting fears the NBA star has coronavirus.

The news triggered quite the response on social media, with people fearing he had been infected with COVID-19 despite the team coach saying Young had "no respiratory issues".

Young ended up taking to Twitter to tell NBA fans to "relax".

Loading

Meanwhile, in the world of tennis, organisers at Indian Wells — or the "fifth major" as it is sometimes called — have taken steps to protect players and ball kids alike.

Players have been instructed to manage their own towels amid a host of changes at the event in a bid to prevent coronavirus transmission.

Players' habit of handing ball kids their sweat-soaked towels has drawn controversy in recent times, most recently at the Australian Open where Nick Kyrgios got a code violation for trying to stop a ball kid touching his blood-stained towel.

Loading

Vaccine needed to combat 'unprecedented threat', expert says

A global coalition set up to fight epidemic diseases has called for $2 billion to support its development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Describing the coronavirus outbreak as an "unprecedented threat in terms of its global impact", the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said while containment measures would help slow COVID-19's spread, a vaccine was key to longer-term control.

"It is increasingly clear that containment measures for COVID-19 can only slow down its spread and the virus is now entering a stage of unprecedented threat in terms of its global impact," CEPI's chief executive Richard Hatchett said.

"It is critical that we … invest in the development of a vaccine that will prevent people from getting sick."

Within weeks of the outbreak, CEPI announced it would put $US100 million ($150 million) into an initial vaccine development program, with the aim of having potential vaccine candidates in early stage clinical trials in as little as 16 weeks.

But on Friday it said the funds would be fully allocated by the end of March.

"Without immediate additional financial contributions, the vaccine programs we have begun will not be able to progress and ultimately will not deliver the vaccines that the world needs," Dr Hatchett said.

The British Government has announced it will provide 20 million pounds [$39 million], adding to the 30 million pounds it has previously given to CEPI.

More than 20 infected passengers on cruise ship

Another cruise ship has been hit by coronavirus, with 21 people on board the Grand Princess, docked on the California Coast, testing positive.

US Vice-President Mike Pence confirmed the news in a White House press conference.

"46 persons were swabbed and 21 of those on the ship tested positive to the coronavirus, 24 tested negative and one test was inconclusive," Mr Pence said.

"We are taking all measures necessary to see to the health of the Americans and those involved on the Grand Princess."

The Grand Princess cruise ship has returned a number of positive tests. ( Reuters: California National Guard/Handout )

Of those who tested positive, 19 were crew members.

There are four Australians on the ship.

The vessel will be taken to a non-commercial port where all passengers will be tested and quarantining of positive tests will take place.

Passengers on another cruise ship, The Diamond Princess, were recently quarantined for weeks after testing positive to COVID-19. Six eventually died.

Loading

Aussie kids still stuck in Wuhan

Desperate parents are pleading with the Morrison Government to do more to get their children — some just babies — home from the coronavirus epicentre, China's Hubei province.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed 22 Australian children, the youngest just eight months old, had been stranded in Wuhan and other areas of Hubei since COVID-19 began spreading, prompting Australia to close its borders to Chinese citizens.

DFAT said the children, who are Australian citizens or permanent residents, were in the care of their extended families.

Italy death toll almost hits 200

The death toll from Italy's coronavirus outbreak has risen by 49 to 197, the Civil Protection Agency has said.

The figure, reported on Friday local time, represents the nation's largest daily increase in fatalities since the contagion was uncovered there two weeks ago.

The accumulative number of cases in the country, the hardest hit by the virus in Europe, totalled 4,636 against 3,858 on Thursday.

Face masks are now a regular sight in Italy.

The head of the agency said of those originally infected, 523 had fully recovered.

The contagion is focused on a handful of hotspots in the north of Italy, but cases have now been confirmed in each of the country's 20 regions, with deaths recorded in eight of them.

'No evidence' summer will help fight, WHO says

The notion coronavirus will disappear in the northern summer is a "false hope", Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO's emergencies program, has said.

"We do not know yet what the activity or the behaviour of this virus will be in different climatic conditions," Dr Ryan said.

Loading

"We have to assume that the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread.

"It is a false hope to say yes it will just disappear in summertime, like influenza virus. There is no evidence right now to suggest that that will happen."

German politicians bail on beers

Bavarians looking forward to seeing their elected officials mocked have had their hopes dashed, with authorities urging officials not to attend the traditional Nockherberg "strong beer" festival in Munich due to coronavirus fears.

The Paulaner brewery said it had taken all possible safety measures, but it now looked like the event, which features satirical sketches poking fun at politicians who are often in the room, would have to be cancelled completely.

Bavarian Health Minister Melanie Huml has said "the protection of the population is our top priority".

Queensland confirms another case

A 28-year-old male has been confirmed as Queensland's latest coronavirus case after recently returning to Australia from Iran.

Health officials said on Friday night that he was being transferred from his home in Brisbane to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition.

A total of 14 people in Queensland have been confirmed with COVID-19, including three people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Iran threatens use of 'force' to contain spread

Iranian authorities have warned they may use "force" to limit travel between cities and announced the new coronavirus has killed 124 people amid 4,747 confirmed cases in the Islamic Republic.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour offered the figures at a televised news conference. He did not elaborate on the threat to use force, though he acknowledged the virus now was in all of Iran's 31 provinces.

Iran has been hit hard by coronavirus. ( Reuters/WANA )

The threat may be to stop people from using closed schools and universities as an excuse to go to the Caspian Sea and other Iranian vacation spots.

Iran also announced it would put checkpoints in place to limit travel between major cities, hoping to stem the spread of the virus.

Trump signs off on $US8.3 billion package

US President Donald Trump has signed a bill to approve $US8.3 billion ($12.5 billion) to bolster the country's capacity to test for coronavirus and fund other measures to stem the outbreak there.

Mr Trump signed the legislation, which was for more than triple the amount he had originally suggested to tackle the issue.

The funds will partly go toward expanding testing capacity, which health officials say is a key slowing the spread of the respiratory illness in the United States.

The US death toll reached 14 by Friday [local time] with more than 250 cases confirmed.

"We're doing very well," the president said after signing the bill.

Loading

"But it's an unforeseen problem … not a problem, came out of nowhere but we're taking care of it."

Airlines issue sanitiser warning

The Civil Aviation Authority is warning people about the dangers of sending hand sanitiser by mail or freight.

It says there's been a surge in hand sanitiser being found as undeclared dangerous goods.

The Authority says the product has to be properly declared because it contains 75 per cent ethanol, posing a fire risk aboard aircraft.

Cases rise to over 100,000 people infected

More than 100,000 people have been infected by coronavirus globally and over 3400 people have died according to the Centre for Disease Control data collated by Johns Hopkins University.

Mainland China accounted for more than 3,000 deaths, while the toll in Italy stood at 197.

Italy's death toll and infection cases due to coronavirus has surged. ( AP: Claudio Fulan )

There are 85 countries outside China reporting infections, with Slovakia, Cameroon, Togo, Vatican City, Bhutan, Serbia and Costa Rica reporting their first cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

More than half of those infected have reportedly recovered, including over 53,700 in mainland China.

WHO urges to make coronavirus containment 'highest priority'

The World Health Organisation said on Friday (local time) all countries should make containing the outbreak of COVID-19 their highest priority.

The UN agency stressed that fighting the epidemic requires countries to work together, and praised Iran for "switching on" to the coronavirus outbreak there and taking a fresh "all of government approach".

"It is geographically expanding and deeply concerning," the WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

"We are continuing to recommend that all countries make containment their highest priority," he added.

EU members fail to share protective gear

EU ministers failed to convince Germany, France and the Czech Republic to lift their export ban on protective medical gear.

The three countries announced a ban on exports of protective gear against coronavirus to avoid shortages at home.

The measures go against the spirit of free movements of goods within the European Union and could hurt the bloc's collective effort to fight coronavirus.

Many EU countries rely on China, the source of the outbreak, for drug ingredients, and they are now struggling to avoid shortages after the epidemic disrupted supplies and delayed shipments.

Protective gear, such as face masks, is already in short supply in most EU countries, officials said, which puts doctors and nurses at risk.

Vatican confirms first case

The Vatican said a patient in its health services had tested positive for the coronavirus, the first in the tiny, walled city state surrounded by Rome.

The discovery worsened the prospects of the virus having already spread further in the capital of Italy, since most Vatican employees live in Rome and those who live in the Vatican frequently enter and leave the city state.

People wear protective face masks on St. Peter's Square after the Vatican reports its first case of coronavirus. ( Reuters: Remo Casilli )

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the case was diagnosed on Thursday and that services in Vatican clinics had been suspended to sanitise the areas.

Most Vatican employees who use its health services live in Italy on the other side of the border with the 108-acre city state.

Starbucks temporarily bans own reusable cups

Starbucks has stopped accepting reusable cups and thermos flasks from customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to prevent the spread of coronavirus, though it will still honour the promised discount for anyone carrying one.

The world's biggest coffee chain had announced a similar policy for the United States on Wednesday.

A sign posted at a Starbucks store explaining the temporary ban of own reusable cups. ( AP: Ted S. Warren )

Companies across the world are having to rethink the way they operate to slow the spread of a virus that first emerged in China, with some opting to freeze travel, stockpile goods and have staff work from home.

For Starbucks that means pausing the use of personal cups or tumblers in its stores out "of an abundance of caution".

"We will continue to honour existing discounts for anyone who brings in a personal cup," Starbucks said.

"As a result, we are suspending our charges for paper cups as well, given this decision prevents customers from opting for reusables."

State-by-state breakdown

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

NSW : 34 cases

: 34 cases Queensland : 14 cases

: 14 cases Victoria : 11 cases

: 11 cases South Australia : seven cases

: seven cases Western Australia : three cases

: three cases Tasmania: two cases

two cases Northern Territory: one case

Australia's total cases: 72