The death toll in China from the new coronavirus reached 213 on Friday, with overall cases worldwide rising rapidly in an outbreak that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency.
The death toll in Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the epidemic, had risen to 204 and there were 9,692 cases of infection nationally, Chinese health authorities said. About 100 cases have been reported in at least 18 other countries, with no deaths outside China.
Even as the WHO said cases had spread to 18 countries, Italy announced its first confirmed cases, in two Chinese tourists.
