The French city of Nice has cancelled the finale of its carnival because of coronavirus fears.

The carnival - which began on 15 February - was due to culminate in a flower parade on Saturday. It has now been called off, as has a fireworks display that had been planned for Sunday.

The carnival attracts over a million visitors every year to the city - which is located a short distance from Italy, the main focus of Europe's outbreak.

Guy Platten, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, tells the BBC coronavirus crisis is leading to huge imbalances in the industry.

As trade flows stall, empty containers remain stuck in Chinese ports, leading to shortages in the US.

North Macedonia has confirmed its first case of coronavirus.

Health Minister Venko Filipce confirmed the patient had recently arrived from Italy.

The woman sought medical help early on Wednesday. She had driven from Italy to North Macedonia by van. Other people who were with her in the van at the time are undergoing tests.

With the coronavirus spreading around the world, scientists have been racing to develop a vaccine.

Vaccines work by training the immune system to recognise and fight specific viruses. But they often require lengthy testing on thousands of people before they are allowed to be sold.

Biotechnology investor Brad Loncar told the BBC that finding a vaccine amid a public health crisis like the coronavirus outbreak "typically takes a lot of time and money".

Human trials for one potential vaccine are set to begin in six weeks in the US. Other US companies say they are working on potential vaccines that could be ready for testing in a few months.

In China, scientists say they have developed an oral vaccine, with a professor at Tianjin University claiming to have taken four doses with no side effects.

But experts say that until full clinical trials have taken place, it is not possible to assess a vaccine's effectiveness.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, told reporters: “You’re talking about a year to a year and a half before any vaccine would be ready for widespread use."

Image source, Science Photo Library

Travel bans have been used by some countries to try to stop the spread of the virus. In early February the US and Australia said they would deny entry to foreign visitors who had been to China.

But do travel bans work?

Dr Natalie McDermott, an expert in outbreak disease control, tells the BBC's World at One programme that they usually don't.

A British family staying at the hotel at the centre of the outbreak on Tenerife island tell the BBC how it feels to be confined to their room.

"We had one good day, we were out by the pool and everything," 27-year-old Hannah Green tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"The next day, we had the letter through the door. The letter said to stay in our rooms for health reasons."

You can read more here

Image source, Hannah Green

Several European countries have reported their first cases of coronavirus apparently linked to the outbreak in Italy.

On Wednesday morning Greece confirmed their first case - a 38-year-old woman who had recently travelled to Italy.

Austria, Croatia, Spain and Switzerland also announced cases involving people who had been to Italy.

And in Africa, a case has been identified in Algeria, also involving someone who had travelled to Italy.

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As mentioned earlier, coronavirus is now spreading faster outside China than inside.

Focus on the coronavirus outbreak has now shifted to Europe where many countries such as Italy, Austria and France are recording multiple cases.

Here are the things you need to know, from symptoms, how to protect yourself and what the current advice here in the UK is.

What is coronavirus and what are the symptoms?

On Tuesday the US Centres for Disease Control said it would be a matter of if, not when coronavirus becomes a pandemic.

However the World Health Organization (WHO) said using the word pandemic would signal that the virus cannot be contained which isn't true.

"We are in a fight that can be won if we do the right things," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"For the moment, we are not witnessing sustained and intensive community transmission of this virus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death."

The WHO argued that China has had fewer than 80,000 cases out of a population of 1.4 billion people and in the rest of the world, there have so-far been 2,790 cases out of a population of 6.3 billion.

After Brazilian health officials confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Latin America, they are tracking 20 suspected cases.

On Wednesday a 61-year-old Sao Paulo resident was diagnosed, after returning from the Lombardy region of Italy, Brazil's Health Minister Luiz Henrique said.

Image source, EPA

People in Venice have taken part in the annual Plague Doctors procession - a tradition that has taken on new meaning as fears over coronavirus grip northern Italy.

Wearing masks and black clocks, party-goers walked through Saint Mark's Square on Tuesday night recalling the Black Death that swept through medieval Europe.

On Tuesday Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called for calm. “It’s time to turn down the tone, we need to stop panic,” he said.

Ireland v Italy Six Nations rugby match, which was due to take place in Dublin on 7 March, has been postponed.

Ireland's chief medical officer said it was "the only responsible decision that could have been made".

"What was of concern to us was the nature of the mass gathering, a large group of people coming together from an affected area where we don't believe we fully understand the community transmission pattern in that area."

Image source, PA

New outbreaks on the Spanish mainland and on Tenerife island are "controlled situations" that do not increase risks to the "general population", says senior Spanish health ministry official Fernando Simon.

Hundreds of tourists remained confined to a Tenerife hotel for a second consecutive day after two guests tested positive for coronavirus on Monday. Five new cases have been detected on the mainland in past 24 hours - one in the Valencia region, two in the Madrid region and another two in Catalonia.

BBC Radio 5 Live

If you have just joined, welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus crisis as it takes a dramatic new turn: for the first time most new cases are being recorded outside China, where the outbreak originated. As communities across the globe fear for their most vulnerable members, stocks continue to fall for a fifth day. Stay with us for updates on the spread of the virus, which has now reached countries as far apart as Greece and Brazil, and the efforts being made to combat or forestall it. Let our correspondents guide you around the big issues involved in the biggest story of the year to date.

Earlier US oil company Chevron closed its London office in the Canary Wharf area after two workers displayed symptoms. Later other offices in the building at Westferry Circus sent staff home over coronavirus fears.

About 700 people confined to their rooms at a hotel on Spain's Tenerife island following an outbreak will remain in isolation for 14 days, a regional official says. The hotel was placed in lockdown on Tuesday after an Italian doctor staying there hotel tested positive for the virus.

Luftwaffenkaserne Wahn air base in Cologne is in lockdown after a service member came into contact with a critically ill patient with suspected coronavirus, Bild newspaper reports.

Iranian police have arrested 24 people accused of spreading rumours about the coronavirus online, AFP news agency reports.

A further 118 internet users were "talked to and let go" with warnings, the head of Iran's cyberpolice force Vahid Majid said.

A special unit has been created to combat "rumour-mongers" about the spread of coronavirus, Mr Majid said.

A staff member at the UN's office in Vienna, Austria, has suspected coronavirus, the UN has announced.

The person has been taken to hospital for testing, and four people close to the individual have been asked to self-isolate.