Summary

  • Number of deaths worldwide now more than 3,000

  • More than 90% are in Hubei, China, but there have been deaths in 10 other countries

  • European Union disease prevention agency raises risk level to "moderate to high"

  • South Korea reports 476 new cases, a total of 4,212, and a death toll of 28

  • Italy has had more than 2,000 cases, with a death toll of 52

  • Six Americans have died, all in Washington state

  • The leader of a South Korean church linked to the outbreak gets on his knees to apologise

  • Indonesia, Senegal, Jordan, Iceland, Portugal, Armenia, the Czech Republic and Andorra confirm their first cases

  1. First case of coronavirus found in Senegalpublished at 17:56 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Senegal has coronavirus testing facilitiesImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Senegal has coronavirus testing facilities

    The first case of coronavirus in Senegal has been confirmed by the country's health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr.

    The patient is a French man who lives in Senegal and flew back from France on 26 February, Mr Sarr told a press conference in the capital, Dakar.

    The patient reported to a private hospital on 27 February with symptoms including a headache.

    The authorities are monitoring everyone who travelled on the same flight as well as the patient's family.

    The minister said the country was prepared to deal with the virus, pointing out that Senegal had the facilities to test for the coronavirus.

    This is the second case in sub-Saharan Africa after one was confirmed in Nigeria last week.

  2. Eurovision plans 'unaffected - for now'published at 17:51 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    The organisers of this year's Eurovision Song Contest say plans to host the event in Rotterdam in The Netherlands remain unchanged despite the outbreak.

    "It is too early to comment on possible scenarios, which will depend on what happens in the coming months, and for now we are going ahead with our plans for the event in Rotterdam," a spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union told Efe news agency.

    The contest begins on 12 May.

  3. Tunisia confirms coronavirus casepublished at 17:47 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Tunisian borderImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Tunisian authorities have been carrying out checks at the border

    Tunisia has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, the country's health minister told journalists on Monday.

    Abdelatif el-Maki said the patient was a 40-year-old Tunisian man, who arrived in the country by boat from Italy on 27 February.

    He and the other passengers had been advised to monitor themselves. When his fever spiked, he contacted emergency services.

    In Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria have all confirmed cases of the virus.

  4. 'All sub-Saharan Africa to perform tests'published at 17:43 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    All nations in sub-Saharan Africa should be able to test for the coronavirus "within a couple of weeks".

    The World Health Organization's (WHO) regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, told the BBC that 33 countries in the region now have the necessary facilities in place.

    A month ago only Senegal and South Africa were able to carry out proper testing.

  5. Paragliding over Tenerife's coronavirus-hit hotelpublished at 17:33 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    After British tourists were given the opportunity to return home following a week quarantined inside their hotel rooms in Tenerife, BBC correspondent Dan Johnson took to the skies to report on the atmosphere in the area.

    Media caption,

    Paragliding over Tenerife's coronavirus hotel

  6. Italy death toll rises to 52published at 17:26 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020
    Breaking

    The total number of cases in Italy has risen to more than 2,000, and the death toll has risen from 34 to 52, officials say.

    Today's figure is up from 1,694 confirmed cases yesterday.

    Italy has had the highest number of deaths outside China.

    The head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency said that 149 of those originally infected had since recovered.

  7. BBC special on coronaviruspublished at 17:20 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Covid-19, the new coronavirusImage source, Getty Images

    BBC One is broadcasting a special programme this evening in which leading public experts and BBC reporters answer questions on the coronavirus outbreak.

    If you want to know the latest health advice, what you should do if you are planning a trip abroad, or what impact the outbreak could have on businesses, join us here from 19:30 GMT. We'll be streaming the programme live at the top of this page and reporting on the main points in text and video.

  8. British Airways joins airlines cancelling flightspublished at 17:16 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    British Airways flightImage source, Getty Images

    British Airways has become the latest airline to cancel flights over the coronavirus outbreak.

    In a statement sent to the BBC, BA said it was cancelling some flights between the UK and US, as well to some European countries including Italy, France and Germany.

    "To match reduced demand due to the continuing coronavirus issue, we are merging a number of flights between 16 March and 28 March," the airline said.

    "We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including rebooking onto other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel."

    Ryanair and Lufthansa also announced today that they'd be cancelling and reducing flights to and from affected countries.

  9. Senegal 'confirms first case of coronavirus'published at 16:55 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Senegal's health ministry has confirmed the country's first case of coronavirus, Reuters news agency reports.

  10. IMF and World Bank 'will focus efforts on poorest countries'published at 16:51 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have said they're ready to help member countries address the human and economic challenges posed by the coronavirus.

    This could include emergency funding, policy advice and technical assistance, the two organisations said.

    They added that their efforts would be particularly focused on poorer countries that don't have the healthcare infrastructure to deal with the outbreak.

  11. Coronavirus misinformation in Kenyapublished at 16:44 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Reality Check

    The government in Kenya has warned the public about an audio recording circulating on WhatsApp, which talked of 63 cases of the coronavirus in the country. It stressed there were no cases currently, and that the recording had been part of a training exercise on how to handle communications. It’s not clear how the recording became public.

    You can read the Kenyan Health Ministry's statement here, external.

  12. Swiss league on hold as ICC cancelledpublished at 16:41 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Asia's pre-season International Champions Cup matches are cancelled and the Swiss league is postponed due to the coronavirus.

    Read More
  13. Ryanair cuts Italy flightspublished at 16:34 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Passengers wait to board an aircraft of low-cost Irish airline Ryanair at Bergamo airport, ItalyImage source, Getty Images

    Ryanair says its routes in and out of Italy will be reduced by 25% for three weeks because of a significant fall in bookings.

    The Irish airline said in a statement on Monday that it was "too early to speculate what impact the Covid-19 outbreak will have" on its business.

  14. NI 'well prepared' to tackle viruspublished at 16:25 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Northern Ireland's Health Minister, Robin Swann, says authorities there are "well prepared" to deal with the coronavirus.

    In a statement to the Stormont Assembly, Mr Swann said the primary aim was "containment" and that "premature actions" could be damaging.

    He said 150 tests for the virus had been carried out in Northern Ireland, with just one positive result, which was announced on Thursday.

    The minister said the confirmed case came as a result of travel to an infected area of Italy.

  15. Virus 'could cause global growth to halve'published at 16:17 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Influential think tank the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says that if the outbreak is prolonged, it could have a heavy detrimental impact on the global economy.

    A "longer lasting and more intensive" outbreak of the virus - if it continues to spread throughout Asia, Europe and North America - could halve growth forecasts; from 2.9% in November to 1.5%, the OECD says.

  16. Fears of US outbreak after second deathpublished at 16:06 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    A second coronavirus death in the US state of Washington is fuelling fears of an outbreakImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    A second coronavirus death in the US state of Washington is fuelling fears of an outbreak

    The death of a second patient infected with coronavirus in the US state of Washington has sparked fears of a serious outbreak.

    The Covid-19 deaths on US soil prompted the northwestern state to declare a state of emergency.

    New cases have been reported in US states from coast to coast, in Washington, California, Oregon, Illinois, Florida, New York and Rhode Island.

    On Monday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said he suspected the virus would spread in the state, which has just had its first case confirmed.

    Mr Cuomo told a news conference that the patient was a 39-year-old Manhattan resident who had been working in Iran and had recently returned to New York City.

    The woman, a healthcare worker, did not use public transport, and officials said they did not believe she was contagious on the plane or while travelling in a private car from the airport to her residence.

    The governor said that people on the flight, and the driver of the car, would be contacted.

    "She took precautions that turned out to be advantageous," he added.

  17. Supplies delivered to Iranpublished at 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    On the outbreak in Iran, which is struggling to deal with a growing number of coronavirus cases, Dr Tedros said that WHO had sent a support team.

    "A WHO team has arrived in Iran to deliver supplies and to support the government in its response," he said.

  18. 'It can be contained'published at 15:51 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    Dr Tedros adds that it is important to understand that the outbreak can be contained: "A good number of countries have not reported new cases within the last two weeks.

    "The number of cases in China continues to decline. Only eight cases were reported outside Hubei province yesterday."

    He stresses that containment should be the focus ahead of a vaccine.

  19. 'A unique virus' - WHO chiefpublished at 15:50 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says the new coronavirus "is a unique virus with unique features".

    "This virus is not influenza. We have never before seen a pathogen that can transfer between individuals [so easily]."

    "Containment of Covid-19 must remain the top priority for all countries," he says, adding that governments have "no choice but to act now".

  20. UK, Germany and France offer Iran virus aidpublished at 15:40 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2020

    The UK, Germany and France are offering Iran a €5 million package to help them fight coronavirus in the country.

    In a statement, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says the three nations - known as the E3 group - "express their full solidarity with all impacted by Covid-19 in Iran".

    "We are offering Iran a comprehensive package of both material and financial support to combat the rapid spread of the disease," it continues.

    "The material will be transported urgently by plane on 2 March and will include equipment for laboratory tests, as well as other equipment, including protective body suits and gloves.

    "The E3 has also committed to providing urgent additional financial support close to €5 million to fight the Covid-19 epidemic affecting Iran, through the WHO or other UN agencies."

    Iranian woman wearing protective maskImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    There are 1,501 confirmed cases in Iran

    There are currently 1,501 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iran.

    Iranian officials said today that 66 people in the country had died of the virus - but health sources told BBC Persian last week that the death toll was actually at least 210.