Surgical masks selling out in New York's China Town

France announces two cases of deadly new virus from China, which has killed at least 41 people.

China has stepped up its response to a new coronavirus outbreak that has killed 41 people and infected at least 1,287 as of Saturday, placing restrictions on 13 cities, including 12 in Hubei Province - the centre of the outbreak.

At least 36 million people are living in the affected cities, some of which have suspended public transport amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic, with cases reported in Japan, Thailand, South Korea and the United States.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that the respiratory illness, which has been traced to the city of Wuhan, is an emergency in China. But WHO said it is too early to declare it a global health emergency.

Friday, January 24

France announces 3rd confirmed case of the coronavirus 

France has announced late on Friday the third confirmed case of the conronavirus. Earlier on Friday, officials had confirmed two cases, the first in Europe. 

Surgical masks selling out in New York's China Town

More than a dozen pharmacies in New York City's China Town had run out of face masks or only had a few left on Friday.

Pharmacists said hundreds of locals had rushed to buy masks for protection from the newly discovered coronavirus.

First two cases of coronavirus in Europe confirmed in France

French Minister for Solidarity and Health Agnes Buzyn has "confirmed" two cases of the coronavirus in the country, the first reported incidents of the respiratory illness in Europe.

The first case involved a patient in hospital in the southwestern city of Bordeaux while the other was in Paris, Buzyn told reporters.

First South Asia coronavirus case reported in Nepal

A Nepali student who returned from Wuhan has tested positive for the coronavirus, health officials in Nepal said in a statement, making it the first case reported in South Asia.

The 32-year-old student arrived in Nepal on January 9, and entered the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Kathmandu four days after running a fever and reporting trouble breathing, hospital spokesperson Anup Bastola told AFP.

"The results of a sample, sent to Hong Kong, have returned positive," Bastola told AFP, noting that the patient was discharged after recovery.

"We are monitoring the patient and he and his family members are healthy. So are all the health workers in the hospital," he added.

Second case of coronavirus in US confirmed

Health officials in the state of Illinois announced the second case of coronavirus in the US, located in the city of Chicago, local media outlet CBS Chicago reported.  

According to CBS, the patient is a woman in her 60s, who had travelled to Wuhan in December.

The woman returned from China on January 13 without initially showing any signs of illness, but a few days later, she called her doctor to report feeling sick.

Doctors with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the woman is hospitalised to prevent the spread of the virus and is doing well, and those she had been in close contact with are being monitored.

China's Wuhan gets $290m loan to fight virus

The China Development Bank will give a two billion yuan ($290m) emergency loan to the city of Wuhan to help with virus prevention and treatment work, the city's government said in a statement on Friday.

Wuhan is at the centre of an outbreak of a new coronavirus, in which at least 26 people have died so far, most of them in the city.

Pakistan lacks facilities to diagnose coronavirus: Minister of health

Pakistan does not have the facilities to diagnose coronavirus, State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said, according to local media outlet Business Recorder.

Zafar added that samples of the new virus will be sent to virology labs in three countries for diagnosis, the Recorder reported. 

China to take stricter, more targeted measures to curb coronavirus spread: State TV

China will take stricter and more targeted measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, state television reported, citing a state council meeting on virus control.

"The spread of the virus has not been cut off ... Local authorities should take more responsibility and have a stronger sense of urgency," state media said, without giving more details.

More than 40 million in China affected by travel restrictions

Travel restrictions are affecting more than 40 million people in China amid the new coronavirus outbreak. 

Wuhan, where the outbreak began, is effectively in lockdown, with all public transport suspended.

More than a dozen other nearby cities have introduced transport restrictions, with some also shutting public spaces and cancelling Lunar New Year events.

Some prominent tourist attractions have been closed in Beijing and Shanghai.

Twenty-four people have died in Wuhan's Hubei Province, one in Hebei Province and another in the northeast Heilongjiang Province.

UK convenes emergency response meeting on new coronavirus

The United Kingdom will convene an emergency response meeting on Friday to discuss measures to contain the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said.

The so-called Cobra meeting will be chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Johnson will not attend.

WHO expects coronavirus cases to rise in China

A WHO spokesman said the cases of the new coronavirus are likely to continue to rise in China and it is too soon to evaluate the virus's severity.

"The focus is not so much on the [case] numbers, which we know will go up," spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a Geneva news briefing. 

"It's still too early to draw conclusions on how severe the virus is," said Jasarevic, adding that the WHO and its network of experts may look at treatments and vaccines against Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) for possible use against the coronavirus.

China's government forms new group to tackle crisis

China's government cabinet has taken control of managing the crisis surrounding the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler, reporting from Beijing, said.

"They've created a special group to deal with the situation and leading that special group is a specialist that was brought in for the SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] epidemic back in 2003," he added.

McDonald's to suspend business in five cities in Hubei Province

McDonald's China said it will suspend business in five cities in Hubei Province starting January 24.