China virus death toll rises to 41 as confirmed cases spike

France reported Europe’s first cases of Wuhan coronavirus on Friday

A passenger wearing a protective face mask arrives at Beijing railway station in China. AFP

A worker wearing a hazardous materials suit stands at a security checkpoint at a subway station in Beijing. AP Photo

People wearing protective masks sit inside a restaurant at the Beijing Railway station. AFP

Passengers wear masks at the Beijing railway station. EPA

A worker wearing a hazardous materials suit gives directions to a passenger at a subway station in Beijing. AP Photo

A woman wearing a protective face mask hands out leaflets on the coronavirus in Hong Kong. AP Photo

A sign reads that face masks, alcohol and disinfectant water are sold out at a drug store in Beijing. EPA

A worker wearing a protective mask is seen inside a shop at a mall in Beijing. AFP

A conductor wears a face mask as a train arrives at a subway station in Beijing. AP Photo

Officials from Vietnam's Ministry of Health talk to a man tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, at an isolated section at Cho Ray hospital, in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. EPA

The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center is seen during a virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. AFP

Medical staff transfer a patient at Hospital of Wuhan Red Cross Society in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. EPA

Hospital staff wear face masks as they work at a check-in desk at a hospital that reported a coronavirus death in Yichang in central China's Hubei Province. Chinatopix via AP

People wearing face masks ride in a train in Bangkok, Thailand. AFP

Indonesian health officers screen passengers with a thermal scanner at the Depati Amir airport in Pangkal Pinang on Bangka Belitung island. AFP

An employee sprays disinfectant on a train at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea. AP Photo

A shopper buys face masks for children at a pharmacy in Singapore. EPA

A Japan Airlines worker, centre, wears a face mask while working inside a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. AFP

A thermal scanner monitor screen shows the temperature of arriving passengers at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka. EPA

China said 41 people have now died from a new coronavirus that has infected more than 1,300 people globally, as health authorities around the world scramble to prevent a global pandemic.

The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 1,287, the National Health Commission said in a statement on Saturday.

The death roll has risen from 26 reported on Friday. All the latest deaths occurred in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak that has been in virtual quarantine as China scrambles to contain the virus spread.

The vast majority of the cases and all of the confirmed deaths to date have been in China, but the virus has also been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, the United States and France.

Human-to-human transmission has been observed in the virus, which health authorities believe to have originated in a market in Wuhan that traded illegally in wildlife.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the new coronavirus an "emergency in China" this week but stopped short of declaring it of international concern. The virus continues to spread globally, however: French health authorities reported Europe's first three confirmed cases on Friday evening.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million people and the capital of central Hubei province, has been put on lockdown. Nearly all flights at Wuhan's airport have been cancelled and checkpoints block the main roads leading out of town. Authorities have since imposed similar lockdowns on more than 10 cities near Wuhan as part of the ongoing containment effort.

As Wuhan slides into isolation, pharmacies have begun to run out of supplies and hospitals have been flooded with nervous residents. The city is rushing to build a 1,000-bed hospital by Monday, state media said.

Hubei's health authority said on Saturday there were 658 patients affected by the virus in medical care, 57 of whom were critically ill.

"It must be confusing and infuriating that on the weekend the government reassured citizens that the virus did not spread between humans and was under control, and then, only four days later, to initiate an unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and other cities," said Mary Gallagher, director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Centre for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan.

The newly-identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.

Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing and coughing. Most of the fatalities have been in elderly patients, many with pre-existing conditions, the WHO said.

Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, though some health officials and experts have questioned the effectiveness of such screenings and of the lockdown.

Health officials fear the transmission rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during week-long holidays for the Lunar New Year, which began on Saturday.