Iran’s health ministry has reported 44 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 and four associated deaths.

That brings the official death toll to 19 and number of cases to 139 since the first case of coronavirus emerged in the country a week ago.

Iran has had the highest number of deaths from the new virus outside China.

Chinese neighbour Mongolia says it will restrict travel from its capital Ulaanbaatar to other provinces until 3 March.

In a bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the country has suspended all flights from Japan, adding to previous bans on flights from China and South Korea.

Mongolia has not reported any infections yet. In early February, it evacuated its citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan where the virus first started spreading.

Image source, AFP

In France, a 60-year-old man has become the first French victim of coronavirus. The man died after being taken in serious condition to a hospital in Paris on Tuesday evening.

An 80-year-old Chinese tourist died in France on 15 February.

On Tuesday evening, the number of confirmed infections in France stood at 14, with the latest patient having just returned from a holiday in Italy, French media report.

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A school in Middlesbrough has been closed for a deep clean after pupils and staff returned from a skiing trip in an area of Italy struck by the coronavirus.

Trinity Catholic College said a "small number" of the 36 pupils and eight staff, external who went on the trip to Verona began showing "mild flu-like symptoms" yesterday.

Image source, Trinity Catholic College

Those who went on the trip are being urged to self-isolate, regardless of whether they are showing any symptoms, and contact NHS 111 to insist on being tested for the illness.

The school will be closed for the remainder of the week for a "precautionary deep clean".

A letter to parents said: "We appreciate that there will be many views on this action amongst parents, and hope that everyone understands the ongoing fluidity of the situation.

"There are a number of pupils and staff who have vulnerable family members and it is the school's duty of care to put in place the most secure of measures to minimise any possible infection."

The authorities in the province of Carinthia are investigating whether a 56-year-old Italian holidaymaker who died there had coronavirus.

In Tyrol province, where an Italian hotel receptionist was found to have the virus, 62 other people at the hotel were tested and nine who had been in close contact with her were put in quarantine. Austrian media report all 62 are in good health and the receptionist is also said to be doing well.

Health officials in the US have warned citizens to brace for the "inevitable" spread of the virus.

One expert from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the American public should prepare for the "expectation that this might be bad", adding that it was not a "question of if... but when".

The warning marks a change of tone for the CDC which, until now, has largely focused on efforts to stop the contagion from entering the country and on quarantining people who have travelled from China.

There are currently 53 confirmed cases in the US.

Image source, Getty Images

The virus is spreading around the world, but what is it, how can we be protected and can it be stopped?

The coronavirus is no longer a problem limited to China - it's now slowly making its way across Europe and the Middle East. But will it become a pandemic?

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South Korea has confirmed 115 more coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,261.

It's currently the biggest virus hotspot outside China.

Two more people in Germany have tested positive for coronavirus, with one of them in a critical condition:

• A 47-year-old man from the Heinsberg district of North Rhine-Westphalia is in hospital in Düsseldorf. He is critically ill. All schools and kindergartens in the district will remain closed on Wednesday
• A 25-year-old man living in the state of Baden-Württemberg tested positive after recently returning from a trip to Milan

This brings the number of cases to 18 in Germany.

At least four schools in the UK have shut for a week while they carry out a "deep clean".

Cransley School in Northwich, Cheshire, and Trinity Catholic College in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, both decided to shut after staff and pupils returned from skiing trips in Italy.

"I'm glad the school is being proactive and sensible," said one parent who has a child at Cransley.

Two primary schools in Lincolnshire - Gedney Church End and Lutton St Nicholas - have also closed as a precautionary measure. Here's the advice the government has given to schools, external

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Financial markets have been slow to take account of the coronavirus - but now they are falling steadily.

There was a big fall on Monday, a short pause for breath then another slide yesterday. The FTSE 100 was off 2%, the Dow Jones in America off 3% and overnight in Japan the Nikkei index was off about 1%.

Rebecca McVittie, investment director at Fidelity International, says:

"I think we should anticipate that this environment of heightened volatility and concern continues.

"One of the reasons I'd highlight that is that you've obviously got quite unique supply chains running across some of the areas which are now in focus. So, we've been talking about China a lot. We've now seen more cases of coronavirus in South Korea. That's a country that plays a very important roles, for example, in tech supply chains."

"I think we should anticipate that markets will probably move down."

Health officials are trying to contain the virus after a cluster of cases on the south coast. Can the virus be kept at bay?

Four cases of coronavirus have now been linked to a hotel on the Spanish island of Tenerife, El Pais reports. British holidaymakers are among hundreds ordered to stay in their rooms.

Spanish media reports said earlier that police were guarding the four-star hotel to make sure no one entered or left

A hotel in Austria was also placed under lockdown after an Italian receptionist contracted the virus.

Image source, Reuters

The country has closed its doors and quarantined hundreds of foreigners in an attempt to stop the virus from breaking out.

Much of the population already suffers from malnourishment and poor health, and experts say some hospitals even lack electricity and running water.

So what would happen if the virus did break out in a country so ill-equipped?

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Several schools send pupils and staff home after they return from skiing trips in the country.

The country has confirmed three more coronavirus cases, taking the total to 40, authorities said.

All the patients are Thai nationals, two of whom had traveled to the Japanese city of Hokkaido, said Reuters news agency, citing the country's health secretary.

No one in Thailand has died from the coronavirus.

The American soldier stationed in South Korea who tested positive for the virus is currently in self-quarantine at an off-base residence, United States Forces Korea (USFK) says.

It is the first such case among US service personnel based in the country.

The 23-year-old had visited Camp Walker, a US military base in Daegu.

Nearly a quarter of patients admitted into wards during December and January in England faced delays of more than four hours before a bed was found for them, BBC research has found.

Experts say that there is "little in the tank" to cope with the coronavirus, as this winter has proved to be the most challenging in a generation for the NHS.

There have been 13 cases of the virus in the UK so far.