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The governments of different countries are stepping up efforts to contain the coronavirus infections as more cases are being reported.
Iran has announced 11 more deaths from coronavirus, bringing its death toll to 54 – the most outside China.
The number of people infected in Italy – the centre of the outbreak in Europe has jumped to 1,694, while the number in France increased to 130. With the outbreak deepening, the staffs at the Louvre in Paris voted to close the iconic museum.
The Czech Republic, Scotland and the Dominican Republic have confirmed their first cases.
Here are some of the latest updates.
According to a report from Caixin, the way China counts the coronavirus infections is underplaying the extent of the outbreak.
Since the beginning of last month, the National Health Commission has required that local authorities include “asymptomatic infected individuals” in the coronavirus data but it seems not all are doing so.
Caixin says there were 104 asymptomatic cases in Heilongjiang on February 25, but they were not included in its 408 “confirmed cases”. Caixin is an independent financial media and research group.
The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo has confirmed that two Indonesians have tested positive for the coronavirus and are in hospital.
There has been speculation about the absence of cases in Indonesia since a Chinese tourist who returned from the holiday island of Bali was confirmed to have the infection.
Kazakhstan to bar Iranian nationals
As part of preventative measures to tackle the coronavirus, the government in Kazakhstan has announced it will bar Iranian nationals from the country from March 5.
It is also reducing the number of flights to and from Azerbaijan, which borders Iran, and will no longer issue work permits to people from countries hit by the virus.
Related: Coronavirus – All you Need to Know
US state of Washington reports second death
The state of Washington on the west coast of the US has reported its second death from coronavirus.
The person who died was a resident in the same nursing home where two cases of the virus were previously reported. According to local health officials, the man was in his 70s.
South Korea reports nearly 500 new cases, four deaths
The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has released the first of its twice-daily updates on the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea – the largest outside China.
The KCDC says four people died overnight and 476 new cases of the virus were confirmed.
In total, 22 people have now died from COVID-19 in South Korea and 4,212 people are infected.
Worldwide death toll passes 3,000
China has announced its latest data on the coronavirus outbreak, reporting 42 new deaths.
That takes the death toll in China to 2,912, and worldwide to more than 3,000.
The National Health Commission says the latest deaths were all in the worst-hit province of Hubei and most were in its sealed-off capital of Wuhan.
Officials said there were also 202 new infections, the lowest number since the end of January.
US State of New York confirms first case
Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, said the US state had confirmed its first case of coronavirus in someone who had recently returned from Iran.
Cuomo said there was no reason for undue anxiety and the risk remained low. He further said more information will be provided as soon as available.
