Saudi Arabia has stopped foreigners from entering the country for religious visits, including to the two holiest sites in Islam - Mecca and Medina.

Millions of people go to the country throughout the year for Umrah with a big surge in visitors during the Hajj pilgrimage.

It's unclear if Hajj, which is due to begin in late July, will be affected.

The country has also barred visitors from countries where the new coronavirus has spread.

Saudi Arabia has no confirmed cases of the disease.

Image source, European Photopress Agency

A Japanese woman who was treated for coronavirus and then recovered has now tested positive again, say local media reports quoting government officials.

The woman is reportedly a tour guide in her 40s, from the city of Osaka.

She first tested positive in late January but was discharged from hospital after recovering on 1 February.

She later developed a sore throat and chest pains and then tested positive again.

This is the first case in Japan where a patient has tested positive after being discharged.

However, there have been reports of patients in China testing positive again.

Around 80% of those from the Shincheonji church who were tested for the virus have been found positive, says our correspondent in South Korea.

Here's more on what we know about the fringe church.

Joint military exercises between the US and South Korea have been postponed - as the number of confirmed cases continues to grow in the Asian country.

South Korea reported 334 new cases overnight, bringing the total number of cases to 1,595. Thirteen people have died from the virus.

Yesterday, a US soldier in South Korea tested positive for the virus - the first case among US forces in Korea. He is known to have visited Camp Carroll, which sits outside Daegu - the centre of the outbreak in Korea.

More than a dozen South Korean military personnel have also tested positive for the virus.

Image source, Getty Images

China has released its daily update on the spread of the virus - and the numbers continue to show an apparent decline in the rate of growth.

By the end of Wednesday the mainland reported 433 new confirmed cases and 29 deaths, the National Health Commission said.

409 of the new cases and 26 of the deaths were in Hubei - where the outbreak began.

The country now has a total of 78,497 confirmed cases and 2,744 deaths.

This suggests that efforts to contain the virus by telling people to stay at home, stopping large public gatherings, and preventing travel, are working says the BBC's health reporter Philippa Roxby.

US President Trump in a news conference on Wednesday said the US was "very, very ready" to handle the coronavirus, as he appointed his vice president Mike Pence to take charge of the outbreak.

His message contradicts an earlier report by a US Center for Disease Control official who said the spread of the virus was a matter of "when, not if" - and warned that it could cause a "severe disruption" to everyday life.

Mr Trump also said researchers were in the process of "rapidly developing" a vaccine. However, Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he did not expect a vaccine to be ready for at least a year.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning from Asia and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.

Here’s a summary of major events so far:

• There are now 400 cases of the virus in Italy. It comes as the WHO announced that the number of coronavirus cases outside China has outpaced those inside the country for the first time
• Several European countries including Austria, Croatia, Greece, Norway and Switzerland have reported their first coronavirus cases – many of these are linked to people who have been to Italy
• US President Trump has put his VP Mike Pence in charge of the coronavirus outbreak. Mr Trump said the US was “very, very ready” to handle the virus
• Saudi Arabia has suspended entry for pilgrims wanting to visit Mecca
• The US and South Korea have postponed their annual military drills. Several South Korean soldiers and one US service member in South Korea have tested positive for the virus
• A woman in Japan who was treated for the virus and later recovered has tested positive again, say local media reports