CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Thailand reports 8 new cases-Brit evacuation from Hubei province in ‘next few days’

106 people have now died due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, with more than 4,515 confirmed cases across the country.

In the latest update from the National Health Commission, with most of those affected hailing from the city of Wuhan – the epicenter of the outbreak.

There are believed to be about 300 UK citizens still in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province, but the Foreign Office is working to evacuate them from the area in days, if not sooner.

The national new year holiday has been extended by three days to Sunday, in an attempt to contain the spread.

In Shanghai, the government has stopped businesses from returning to work until 10 February. The ban applies to all companies apart from utilities, medical firms, medical suppliers, and supermarkets.

Meanwhile, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is in Beijing to discuss the outbreak with the Chinese government and health experts.

Uncertainty still remains over how dangerous the virus is and how easily it spreads between humans, but cases have been confirmed in countries across Asia, North America and Europe – most recently Germany.

Thailand and Hong Kong have reported eight cases each, there are five each in the US, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and Macau, four in South Korea, Japan and Malaysia, three in France, and two in Vietnam and Canada.

Germany, Sri Lanka, and Nepal all have one confirmed case, but there have been no fatalities outside China as yet.