Coronavirus news – live: All Britons now told to leave China as death toll tops 425 and more than 20,000 infected globally

Follow latest updates as evacuated British nationals undergo 14-day quarantine

UK-wide Coronavirus information campaign launches

All British nationals have been urged to leave China due to the coronavirus outbreak, as the epidemic claimed more than 420 lives and infected more than 20,000 people globally.

Meanwhile, British officials are continuing attempts to trace 239 people who flew to the UK from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, before travel restrictions came into force.

Some 94 UK nationals have been evacuated from the city to Britain and are now undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

Follow the latest updates

Key Points

• Death toll rises to over 420
• Total number of infections rises to more than 20,000
• British nationals urged to leave China
• More cases expected in UK, health secretary says
• British officials trying to trace 239 from city at epicentre of outbreak
• Belgium reports first case of coronavirus

[4 February 2020 07:48 · Samuel Osborne]

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to over 420 and Hong Kong has reported its first death from the disease, the second outside of mainland China.

[4 February 2020 08:04 · Samuel Osborne]

British officials are still trying to trace 239 people who flew from Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the outbreak, to the UK before travel restrictions came into force.

A total of 94 UK nationals and their family members have been evacuated from the city and are now undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

The British Embassy in Beijing announced on Monday the last flights from China to the UK for British nationals were set to leave this week.

It said flights would be run by "partner countries" and any British nationals and their immediate families, including those with non-UK passports, must make themselves known if they wish to travel.

[4 February 2020 08:20 · Samuel Osborne]

Belgium has reported its first case of coronavirus in a person who was repatriated from Wuhan.

The health ministry said the person was in good health and did not show any symptoms of the disease.

They were taken to a special hospital for further care, while other returnees remain under observation.

[4 February 2020 08:40 · Samuel Osborne]

The total number of coronavirus infections in China rose by 3,235 to 20,438, and there were at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency.

[4 February 2020 08:55 · Samuel Osborne]

Vietnam has assigned the military to quarantine 950 Vietnamese returning from China at two military camps outside Hanoi for at least 14 days, the official Voice of Vietnam Radio reported.

"During the time of quarantine, anyone of them showing symptoms of fever will be transferred to a hospital for treatment," the report cited Nguyen Viet Thang, Hanoi's military chief medic as saying.

[4 February 2020 09:11 · Samuel Osborne]

Six new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Thailand, including four Thai nationals, the country's health ministry has announced.

The four Thai people included a couple who had visited Japan and two drivers who had picked up Chinese passengers in Thailand, the ministry said.

[4 February 2020 09:30 · Samuel Osborne]

New coronavirus cases have been reported in the US, including a patient in California infected through close contact with someone in the same household who had been infected in China.

It was the second instance of person-to-person spread in the US after a case reported last week in Illinois.

"We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread," said Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

[4 February 2020 09:47 · Samuel Osborne]

On Monday, China accused the US of spreading fear by pulling its citizens out and severely restricting travel.

Washington has "unceasingly manufactured and spread panic," said Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, noting  the WHO had advised against trade and travel curbs.

"It is precisely developed countries like the United States with strong epidemic prevention capabilities and facilities that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations," she said.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defended the measures taken by the US, including suspending the entry of foreign nationals who had visited China within the past 14 days.

[4 February 2020 09:57 · Samuel Osborne]

At least 425 people in China have died from the coronavirus outbreak. The disease has also claimed one life in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

A chart comparing coronavirus deaths in mainland China with those of Sars, from Statista 

[4 February 2020 10:09 · Samuel Osborne]

Singapore has announced its first local coronavirus transmission, with six more cases being reported.

Four of those were local transmissions, linked to a health products shop that primarily serves Chinese tourists, the country's health ministry said.

The other two were Singapore residents evacuated from Wuhan on Thursday.

"Though four of these cases constitute a local transmission cluster, there is as yet no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore," the ministry said in a statement.

It takes the country's total number of infections to 24.