Coronavirus latest news: China death toll climbs to 80 with more than 2,700 cases – live updates

Just on those figures, the government tabloid, the Global times has recently tweeted figures of cases in provinces across China. The next most infections outside of Hubei (1,423 cases), is in Guangdong, which has 146 cases. Henan and Zhejiang provinces each have 128 cases.

Given the spread of the virus across China and to at least 10 other countries, I thought it’s worth mentioning that all but four deaths so far have been recorded in Hubei province, where the outbreak started. Of the 80 fatalities reported by the National Health Commission, 76 are were in Hubei (that’s 95% of fatalities).

The total number of cases reported in Hubei is 1,423, according to government figures. This makes up 51.5% of the 2,761 cases reported so far across by the commission across China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Social media is reporting discontent about the handling of the response to the virus in Hubei province, including the governor of the province apparently stumbling over the number of face masks produced there.

Keeping track of the numbers in this coronavirus story is challenging, with things changing all the time. But one figure that caught my attention from the National Health Commission this morning, was the number of people currently under medical observation for the virus. It stands at 30,453. It’s not clear from the statement where or how these people are being observed, but we do know that there’s a huge construction effort going on in Wuhan to build a 1,000-bed hospital for the virus patients. You can read our full story on this 10-day build here, but it’s fair to say the pictures of the construction are pretty incredible.

The Chinese city of Wuhan is suspending customs services for four days until Thursday, according to the government-run Global Times. I assume that this is linked to the transport shutdown in the city. I’ll bring you more information on this when it comes to hand.

Hong Kong has stepped up efforts to stop the virus’s entry. As of Monday, residents of Hubei will be banned from entering. Anyone who has visited Hubei province in the past 14 days, will also be banned from entry. The rule does not apply to Hong Kong residents. Hong Kong has six confirmed cases of the virus.

With millions of people now subject to travel restrictions in China, as the country shut down transport networks in a bid to stop the spread of the virus, some countries are preparing to help their citizens leave affected areas.

Japan’s foreign minister has confirmed that there are 430 Japanese citizens in Hubei province, mostly in Wuhan. Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters that he had spoken to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and that Wang understood Tokyo’s desire to repatriate its nationals as soon as possible. Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, had said earlier that his government was working with Chinese authorities to make arrangements for all Japanese nationals wishing to return from Wuhan, including with charter flights, but no schedule has been set.

The Australian government is also working to repatriate its citizens trapped in Wuhan, including about 100 schoolchildren who area stranded there.

“We are working to make sure that there is support for those Australians and we are also working on, as are other countries, trying to secure their ability to return to Australia. At this point in time, the foreign minister is working around the clock on that,” said Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt.

There have been five confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia as of Monday 27 January. Australians who believe they have family in the affected areas can contact this emergency telephone number + 61 2 6261 3305, for assistance.

You can read the Guardian Australia’s latest piece on the country’s response to coronavirus here:

If you or your family are concerned about the spread of the coronavirus, this has been one of the Guardian’s best read pieces on the illness, including the virus’s symptoms, information about transmission, where it’s been identified globally and what experts are saying about the virus.

Some more information now on the update from China’s National Health Commission with regards to the number of deaths and infections from coronavirus.

• On Sunday 26 January 769 new cases were reported across 30 different areas of China.
• As of midnight on Sunday into Monday, of the more than 2,700 cases reported (including in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao), the commission said 30 were severe.
• There are nearly 6,000 suspected cases and 51 cured cases

China’s state media, CGTN (formerly CCTV), is reporting that the lunar new year holiday has been extended by three days until 2 February. All universities, schools and kindergartens will postpone the start of their spring term until further notice, it says.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the outbreak of the coronavirus. I’m Alison Rourke and I will be keeping you up to date on developments as they unfold.

The first order of business to report is that the death toll in China has risen to 80, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). This is up from 56 yesterday. The NHC also says there are more than 2,700 infections reported (note that the commission has included Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in this number).

The news comes as the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, flies to Beijing to discuss the outbreak with authorities.

“I am on my way to Beijing, to meet with the government and health experts supporting the coronavirus response,” he said on Twitter.

“My WHO colleagues and I would like to understand the latest developments and strengthen our partnership with China in providing further protection against the outbreak.”

You can get up to speed on the story with our latest piece from the Guardian, including fears that up to 100,000 people may be infected.