China has warned the ability of the coronavirus to spread is getting stronger as the death toll from the virus rises to at least 56 with more than 2,000 people infected globally.
A nationwide ban on the sale of wild animals has been ordered after the virus was traced to a seafood market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife.
Meanwhile, the first case of coronavirus in Canada has been announced, with one person confirmed to be the a presumptive carrier of the virus following testing in Toronto.
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Taiwan vice president-elect says coronavirus outbreak is an opportunity for cooperation
William Lai offered help to rival China to fight the new coronavirus outbreak, as authorities in the island further tightened restrictions on visitors from China to prevent its spread.
Taiwan has close economic and cultural links with China and has so far reported four cases of the virus. But political relations are tense. China has stepped up pressure on Taiwan, which it considers its own territory to be taken by force if needed, including holding military drills near the democratic island.
Lai said the spread of the coronavirus in China was an opportunity for cooperation, calling on Beijing to have an "open attitude" towards accepting international help.
"It is incumbent upon Taiwan to take part, and help China to solve this serious epidemic, so as not to allow it to continue to spread, and that the sick can get appropriate treatment to return to help," he added, without elaborating on what help Taiwan may be willing to help.
Taiwan has been angered by its exclusion from some World Health Organisation (WHO) meetings on the virus. Taiwan is not a member of the WHO due to the objection of China, which considers it a Chinese province with no right to participate in international organisations as a separate entity.
This month, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won a landslide re-election after campaigning on a platform to stand up to China and defend Taiwan's freedoms.
China testing HIV drug as treatment for coronavirus symptoms
China health authorities requested the drug to help with the government's efforts to address the crisis, according to the pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc.
Aluvia, which is also known as Kaletra, is a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir.
In guidance published on Thursday, the government said there is no effective anti-virus medicine but suggested taking two lopinavir/ritonavir pills and inhaling a dose of nebulized alpha-interferon twice a day.
Breaking: France to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan
Health minister Agnes Buzyn said French citizens would be airlifted from Wuhan directly to France this week, Chiara Giordano reports.
The US also announced it would fly diplomats and some citizens out of the city, however UK ministers remain tight-lipped over their plans for British citizens.
Fourth US case identified in California
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced it had discovered a fourth person infected with the virus, who is a returning traveller from Wuhan.
"The infected person presented themselves for care once they noticed that they were not feeling well and is currently receiving medical treatment," the statement said. "There is no immediate threat to the general public, no special precautions are required, and people should not be excluded from activities based on their race, country of origin, or recent travel if they do not have symptoms of respiratory illness."
The third case was also in California, in Orange County. Read more details here:
China extends lunar new year holidays
China's cabinet announced it will extend the holidays to 2 February to strengthen the prevention and control of the new coronavirus, state broadcaster CCTV reported early on Monday.
The holidays had been due to end on 30 January.
Schools that are currently in recess will also extend their holidays, but the specific dates will be announced by the Ministry of Education, CCTV said.
It comes after Hong Kong's Carrie Lam announced schools in the region would remain closed until 17 February.
The mayor of Wuhan's admission that five million people left the city ahead of the lockdown has sparked incredulity and anger at authorities' perceived downplaying of the threat posed at the start of the outbreak.
While a staggering figure, further analysis of travel figures for 10 to 22 January suggests that the majority of travellers were merely travelling within the Hubei province, which is effectively locked down.
The city reportedly has millions of migrant workers, who likely accounted for the lion's share of the five million cited by the mayor as they travelled home for new year.
Outwith mainland China, Hong Kong received the most visitors from Wuhan, and internationally, Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo and Incheon were the most popular destinations.
Many readers have contacted The Independent with concerns about the spread of the virus, which is also known as 2019-nCoV.
Here's Simon Calder's latest advice:
Everything you need to know about travelling to, from and around China as coronavirus continues to spread
Big airlines from mainland China are offering refunds, while some cruise lines are cancelling departures from ShanghaiAmid anger over Hubei officials' initial handling of the outbreak, authorities have established a whistleblowing service on WeChat, where the public can highlight mistakes, allegedly anonymously.
"We feel very sorry, very guilty and we blame ourselves," Hubei governor Wang Xiaodong said on Sunday, according to the state-affiliated Global Times.
Likely Canada coronavirus sufferer 'developed symptoms on the plane from Wutan to Toronto'
The first person expected to be identified with the virus in Canada had mild symptoms on the flight, but did not report his condition after landing in Toronto, Canada's chief medical officer Theresa Tam has said.
Theresa Tam, Canada's chief health officer, told reporters in Ottawa that the patient had mild symptoms while on the flight, though he did not report his condition after landing at the Toronto airport.
The individual arrived via China Southern Airlines flight CZ311 from Guangzhou to Toronto. Ms Tam said health officials are in the early process of contacting other travellers on that flight but said those that were not close to the patient should not be overly concerned.
Canada's health minister Patty Hajdu told reporters that the National Microbiology Laboratory will take up to 24 hours to confirm the findings on the local laboratory before Canada officially confirms its first case.
Canada is on high alert to prevent the spread of coronavirus and avoid the repeat of Sars that killed 44 people in Canada, the only country outside Asia to report deaths from that virus in 2002-2003.
World Health Organisation director general en route to Beijing
The UN agency also announced that several scientific journals had agreed to share research on the coronavirus with their experts to help in their efforts to avoid a global pandemic.
Wuhan could see a further 1,000 cases of the virus, the city's mayor added in his press briefing.
More than 2,000 people have been identified as having contracted the coronavirus globally. It has claimed 56 lives.
Nine-month-old girl catches virus
AFP's Hong Kong correspondent reports the girl is the first infant known to have caught the virus.
The World Health Organisation is still estimating the global risk to be moderate, but very high in China.
The French government is meeting to decide whether to repatriate some 800 French citizens who are living in Wuhan.
Officials will make "decisions on the methods and how we might do that", health minister Agnes Buzyn told LCI TV.
The UK's home secretary Priti Patel and the Brexit secretary both remained tight-lipped on the UK's plans to evacuate citizens on Sunday morning, while the US has announced it will repatriate its diplomats but only some of the 230 citizens believed to be in Wuhan due to "limited capacity" on the flight.
Hong Kong has announced that non-residents who have visited Hubei in past fortnight will not be allowed to enter the region.
The announcement comes after mounting pressure was placed on Carrie Lam to close the border with mainland China, with one health union threatening a doctors' strike if she failed to do so.
Earlier on Sunday, protesters set fire to a building earmarked for use as a quarantine facility – an official move which had angered residents.
“We are dissatisfied with the government selecting this housing estate as a [quarantine] separation village as it’s very close to a residential area and a primary school,” one resident told Reuters.
US officially announces repatriation, warns not all will be evacuated
The State Department has announced it will be running a single flight from Wuhan on Tuesday in order to bring home diplomats.
But they warned "capacity is extremely limited", and said priority would be given to citizens to whom the virus posed a greater risk.
A person familiar with the matter on Saturday told the Wall Street Journal of an evacuation plan that would see all of the estimated 230 US citizens in Wuhan flown back to America.
Five million people have left Wuhan due to New Year and virus fears, mayor estimates
Nine million are believed to still be in the city, which is under lockdown, the city's mayor told reporters.
CNBC's Beijing bureau chief added that despite having an official population of less than 12 million, Wuhan also has millions of migrant workers.
Each infected person spreads virus to average of two people, experts suggest
Imperial College London scientists calculating the human-to-human transmission rate estimate an infected person passes the virus on to 2.6 people on average, with the margin of error stretching from 1.5 to 3.5.
Their analysis was based upon a combination of past estimates of the size of the outbreak in Wuhan and simulations of potential epidemic trajectories.
The report said it was likely that the transmission rate was highly variable, with some people not spreading the virus to anyone else, and others to many people.
On Saturday, China's disease control chief sought to downplay fears of a "super-spreader", after staff at the country's National Health Commission reportedly suggested one patient in Wuhan had infected 14 medical workers.
Researchers ‘close to finding source of the virus’, China’s disease control agency claims
With scientists conducting tests at the seafood market in Wuhan where the outbreak was first reported, China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims to be closing in on the source.
"We are close to finding the source of the virus," CDC researcher Tan Wenjie reportedly told state-owned China Daily. "We have found out which stalls on the seafood market in Wuhan had the virus. It is an important discovery, and we will investigate which animal was the source."
Of the 585 samples collected by scientists, 33 tested positive for the virus. They came from 22 stalls and a waste vehicle, most of which were in the area of the market where animals were often traded.
Mr Tan cited research suggesting the coronavirus is 90 per cent similar to a virus found on the body of a bat species in Zhejiang. Other studies have identified snakes and badgers as possible sources.
Thousands celebrate Chinese new year in London in 'biggest celebration outside China'
While many of those welcoming the Year of the Rat were wearing filter masks to protect themselves, coronavirus worries did not dampen festivities, as a 50-foot golden dragon and a bagpipe procession travelled from Charing Cross to Chinatown.
Revellers queued outside restaurants and cafes in Chinatown, and many gathered to watch firecrackers heralding the start of the celebrations in Trafalgar Square.
Chinese student Siyan Li, from Shandong, was wearing a face mask as she celebrated in Chinatown because she was "afraid" of the virus.
The 22-year-old Nottingham University student said: "China has advised everyone to stay at home and not come out. I'm afraid," said Siyan Li, a 22-year-old student from Shandong. "I don't know if there are many people with this kind of fear, but I think [a mask] is a good way to protect myself."
