Coronavirus outbreak: China death toll rises to 41 as France confirms three cases – updates

Health officials in New South Wales said on Saturday morning that five people were being tested for the coronavirus.

Two other people have been discharged after returning negative results on Friday. Another two people in Queensland are also being assessed for the virus.

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said the government was advising people not to travel to and from Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

A flight arrived in Sydney direct from Wuhan on Thursday before the Chinese city’s airport was closed.

Here’s the full stroy from our reporter in Sydney, Ben Doherty.

Welcome to our live coverage of the Sars-like coronavirus outbreak. To start is off, these are the main developments in the last few hours:

• China said on Saturday morning that the death toll has risen to 41 with 1,287 affected.
• Thirteen cities with a population of 36 million people are in lockdown as the government tries to stop the virus from spreading as China enters the lunar new year holiday.
• Chinese state TV said the authorities were going to take stricter and more targeted measures to curb the spread.
• The virus, which began in the central city of Wuhan, has now spread to much of east and south-east Asia, including South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam.
• Three cases have been recorded in France and the health minister said more were expected
• In the UK, 2,000 travellers who have arrived recently from Wuhan are being sought. Fourteen people tested negative for the virus.
• Five people are being tested in the Australian state of New South Wales.
  

Catch up with the development in full with our main news wrap from our correspondent Rebecca Ratcliffe here.