Coronavirus: Cases double globally every five days as UK invests in search for new vaccine

Britain has 50 specialist beds and 500 more potentially to isolate victims, says health secretary

UK-wide Coronavirus information campaign launches

A British man who flew home from China ​suffering from coronavirus-like symptoms is expecting to receive results within hours telling him whether he has the illness.

Anthony May-Smith, who was put into isolation after landing, said later he felt fine.

The total number of deaths from the epidemic in China has risen to 362, with new infections in China increasing by 2,829 on Sunday, bringing the total to 17,205.

At least another 171 cases – including two in Britain – have been reported in countries including Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Spain and Thailand.

The number of cases of the virus worldwide is doubling roughly every five days, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, revealed.

It came as Chinese scientists revealed they had uncovered fresh evidence that the novel coronavirus had originated in bats. 

Please see below for what was our live coverage.

[3 February 2020 11:37 · Jon Sharman]

Google it

The WHO is working with Google to combat misinformation about coronavirus, the UN's health agency has said.

It wants to ensure its information pages are at the top of any searches.

Social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Tencent and TikTok have already taken steps to limit misinformation, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

[3 February 2020 11:41 · Jon Sharman]

A suspected case of coronavirus has been detected aboard a Swiss airliner. A "pandemic plan" has been activated in Zurich, its operator said.

[3 February 2020 11:52 · Jon Sharman]

Travel bans

The WHO insists there is no need for actions that "unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade", as countries suspend links with China over coronavirus fears.

"We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent," its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

There have been 17,238 confirmed infections in China including 361 deaths, as well as 151 confirmed cases in 23 countries and 1 death which was reported from the Philippines on Sunday, he added.

China has accused the US of creating a climate of fear, and other countries of overreacting, by restricting travel to and from the country.

It came as new figures from flight data firm OAG showed there would be over 25,000 fewer flights operated to, from and within China this week compared to two weeks ago. In terms of domestic services, there are 23,000 fewer domestic flights this week compared to last.

[3 February 2020 12:02 · Jon Sharman]

Confirmation

The email about the UK patient taken ill on their way to Arrowe Park Hospital has now also been seen by the Press Association. Test results should arrive "in the coming days", the leaked communication says.

[3 February 2020 12:15 · Jon Sharman]

Food block

Russian retailer Magnit has suspending fruit and veg imports from China, according to the RIA news agency.

Magnit said it had started importing certain products from Israel, Morocco and Turkey instead of China from the beginning of 2020, and increased purchases from Russian suppliers to replace Chinese imports.

[3 February 2020 12:21 · Jon Sharman]

Brazil plans

Brazil's government and air force are drawing up a scheme to pull its citizens out of Hubei province.

"Every Brazilian in the region who wants to return to Brazil will be brought back", Jair Bolsonaro said.

People returning from China will be quarantined, he added.

[3 February 2020 12:25 · Jon Sharman]

Man passes virus to wife

A man in California passed on coronavirus to his wife after returning from Wuhan. The couple, both 57, are isolated in their home in San Benito County and have not been taken to hospital, officials told the Los Angeles Times.

[3 February 2020 12:31 · Jon Sharman]

Cases around the world

Here's our latest video rounding up what we know about the outbreak.

[3 February 2020 12:43 · Jon Sharman]

Donald Trump posted a photo of himself “getting a little exercise” on the golf course this morning as the US grapples with the spread of coronavirus - despite criticising Barack Obama for doing the same thing during the Ebola outbreak, writes Dave Maclean.

Mr Trump teed off at the weekend shortly after the United States declared a national public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention quarantining 195 Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China.

[3 February 2020 12:53 · Chiara.Giordano]

Coronavirus 'may have come from bats'

(iStock)

Chinese scientists say they have more evidence that the new coronavirus is likely to have originated in bats.

In two papers published in the journal Nature, scientists said genome sequences from several patients in Wuhan show the virus is closely related to the viruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

In one study, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96 per cent identical to a bat coronavirus.

Sars is also believed to originate in bats, although it jumped to civet cats before infecting people in the 2002-2003 international outbreak.

Although scientists suspect the latest virus outbreak in China began at a seafood market in Wuhan where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people, the animal source has not yet been pinpointed.