The latest death toll is now up to 305 since the first reported case in December.
Health officials from the Phillipines have confirmed that a 44-year-old man has died from the coronavirus, the first reported fatality related to the illness outside of China.
The death toll is at 305 at the time of writing, with all but one of those reported inside of China.
Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organisation representative to the Philippines, told The Guardian:
“This is the first reported death outside China. However, we need to take into mind that this is not a locally acquired case. This patient came from the epicentre of this outbreak.”
There have also been approximately 14,300 confirmed cases of the virus around the world, with 26 countries outside of China reporting cases of the illness.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all announced that they will not allow foreign nationals who have travelled from or transited through China to enter their countries. All three countries will continue to allow their own citizens who have visited China to enter their home countries, although they will need to be quarantined.
All major cities in the Hubei province of China are under lockdown, affecting more than 62 million people. Huanggang, with a population of 7.5 million in Hubei province, is allowing just one representative from each household to leave their home every other day to go out for grocery shopping in order to minimise the flow of people in the city.
CNN report that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has asked the European Union to help China procure medical supplies, as patients and medical staff have also told their reporters of delays in testing for the virus, raising concerns that the outbreak in China may be worse than is currently being reported.
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