The outbreak of coronavirus in Italy is getting worse, BBC correspondent Bethany Bell reports. The authorities say four children have been infected, the first such cases in this county. Twelve people have died – all of them either elderly or with underlying health problems. Several cases in other European countries have been reported among people who have recently been in northern Italy. On a visit to Rome, the EU’s health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the situation was a cause for concern but not for panic. Schools, universities, museums, cinemas and theatres remain closed across much of the north. A number of tourists have cancelled their visits. There are fears the outbreak could send Italy’s economy in recession.

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"The conditions and environment here in Wuhan are more difficult and extreme than we could ever have imagined [...] We need much more help."

Two nurses in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus outbreak began, have issued an unusual appeal for help in a letter to British medical journal The Lancet, external.

They ask nurses and medical staff from countries around the world to come to China to help "in this battle".

They report that nurses have ulcers from wearing equipment, that their mouths have blisters, and that nurses have fainted from low blood sugar. They are also suffering pyschologically from "helplessness, anxiety and fear".

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For the first time, more new cases have been reported outside China than inside, external, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.

In China, the number of new cases reported on Tuesday was 411, whereas in the rest of the world the number was 427.

The total number of cases globally has now reached 80,980.

The WHO chief said the sudden rise in coronavirus cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea was "deeply concerning" but the virus could still be contained and did not amount to a pandemic.

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US oil company Chevron has said it is closing its London office in Canary Wharf over coronavirus fears and has asked staff to work from home for the time being.

Some 300 traders and staff have been sent home, according to reports, after two people returned from holidays in affected areas and displayed symptoms.

A spokeswoman for Chevron told the Daily Mail, external: "[We] continue to monitor the situation very closely, utilizing the guidance of international and local health authorities.

"Our primary concern is the health and safety of our employees and we are taking precautionary measures to reduce their risk of exposure.

"Consequently we have requested that our colleagues, based at our Westferry Circus office in London, work from home for the time being."

A 12th person has died in Italy, authorities say. The 70-year-old resident of Lombardy was taken to hospital in Piacenza but then was moved to intensive care in Parma. The total number of cases in Italy is now at 374.

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Greek media say a 38-year-old woman in Thessaloniki has been diagnosed positive for coronavirus, BBC Europe Producer Kostas Kallergis reports. The woman, who recently visited northern Italy, has mild symptoms.

The health ministry has told Reuters she is in good health and under observation. The authorities are tracing people she came into contact with, and those in close proximity will be placed in isolation, the agency adds.

The BBC's visual journalism team has mapped the confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iran - one of the three hot spots outside China.

The actual number of cases is thought to be higher than what officials are reporting.

The Greek health ministry has confirmed the country's first case, Reuters reports. The 38-year-old woman had travelled from northern Italy, a health ministry representative said.

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Samsung Electronics is the latest company to make a charitable donation to help fight the coronavirus outbreak.

It said this morning it would give 23 billion won ($18.9m; £14.6m) to "support relief efforts for individuals and communities" affected by Covid-19.

The South Korean company is the latest to pledge money to help with the outbreak. Big US firms including Microsoft, Dell and Cargill have already donated, along with Chinese giant Alibaba.

Reuters recently reported that one case of the new coronavirus, external had been confirmed at Samsung's phone factory complex in Gumi, South Korea.

The smartphone maker said it had put workers who had been in contact with the infected employee in self-quarantine.

The women's World Cup alpine skiing races in Italy's Aosta valley will go ahead but be scaled back, Reuters news agency reports.

A limited number of spectators will be allowed to attend.

No cases of coronavirus have been recorded in La Thuile, where the event will take place, organisers were quoted as saying.

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Seven new cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in Kuwait. They are all people who visited Iran, the health ministry said.

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BBC Radio 4 presenter Nick Robinson has been tweeting about going into self-isolation at home for two days after a trip abroad.

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BBC Radio 5 Live has spoken to Nigel, one of the guests at the hotel in Tenerife in the Canary Islands which has been locked down after a visiting Italian doctor tested positive for coronavirus.

"Yesterday we were visited by medics and had our temperature taken," he told Emma Barnett from his room at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel, "the contact hasn't been particularly forthcoming. The medics left us thermometers told us to take our temperature twice a day... and if we have any flu-like symptoms to report in.

"But today, in the last couple of hours, the situation in the hotel seems to have changed quite radically. People are now out of their rooms and wandering around with their masks on... I don't know whether the hotel authorities have given up on the idea of keeping us in our rooms.

"We did go down and get some coffee - we saw at least 100 people queuing up to get coffee, mostly with their masks on.

"We feel fit and well, we felt liberated just trying to get some coffee... we feel trapped. We only bought one book with us, we were due to fly home on Monday but we couldn't go."

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A Chinese man and his wife have been charged in Singapore with lying to health authorities about their movements, AFP news agency reports. Officials were investigating if they had passed on coronavirus to others.

The couple arrived in Singapore in January. The husband reportedly tested positive for the virus but later recovered. His wife was given a quarantine order.

Facebook is prohibiting adverts that promise cures or guaranteed preventions against the virus, according to Business Insider.

Work is under way to develop a vaccine, but current treatment relies on keeping a patient's body working while the immune system fights the virus.

The giant social media company is trying to curtail the spread of misinformation on its platform.

If you've searched for coronavirus information on Instagram, owned by Facebook, you may have seen an alert pop up directing you to the World Health Organisation website.

Ireland's Six Nations game against Italy in Dublin on March 7 should be postponed due to the coronavirus situation, says Irish Health Minister Simon Harris.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has accused the US of spreading fear in his country over the spread of coronavirus. The outbreak has claimed 19 lives, with at least 139 cases.

"We shouldn't let America mount a new virus on top of coronavirus that is called... extreme fear," Mr Rouhani told a cabinet meeting, one day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested Iran was suppressing information on the virus situation.

Diageo, which makes Guinness, expects sales to slide this year as bars across China close.