Coronavirus news – live: British honeymooner among dozens of new cases reported on quarantined cruise ship, as US announces $100m aid

Singapore reports three more cases and raises alert level

Singapore has reported three more coronavirus cases that authorities have not yet linked to previous infections or travel to China, prompting the city state to raise its countrywide alert level.

The new cases take Singapore's the city-state's virus tally to 33 with the alert level raised to orange, denoting the disease is severe and passes easily from person-to-person.

Red - the highest alert level - indicates it is spreading widely.

Western tourists not wearing face masks should be 'kicked out', Thai health minister says

Thailand's health minister has said Western tourists who refuse to wear face masks should be kicked out of the country.

Anutin Charnvirakul was handing out masks at a skytrain entrance in Bangkok when he complained tourist did not take them

"These kinds of people, we should kick them out of the country," he said.

Italian evacuee from Wuhan tests positive

One of the 56 Italians repatriated from Wuhan, the epicenter of the viral outbreak in central China, this week has tested positive for the disease.

Health officials in the Lazio region, which includes Rome, said the patient has been moved from a military facility to the Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in the capital, where two Chinese tourists with the virus are being treated.

Chinese president urges US to 'respond reasonably' to outbreak

Xi Jinping spoke with Donald Trump by phone (EPA)

China's official news agency has said Xi Jinping urged the US to "respond reasonably" to the virus outbreak in a phone call with Donald Trump.

China's foreign ministry has previously complained  the US was flying its citizens out of the worst-hit city of Wuhan but not providing any assistance to China.

The White House said Mr Trump "expressed confidence in China's strength and resilience in confronting the challenge" of the outbreak in his conversation with the Chinese president.

Communist Party newspaper Global Times said Mr Xi told Mr Trump China has "full confidence and capability to overcome" the outbreak and that the "long-term positive trend of the Chinese economy remains unchanged."

WHO head cautions against reading too much into drop in cases

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference on the coronavirus (Reuters)

The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned against reading too much into a two-day drop in the number of new virus cases.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke during a technical briefing to the UN health agency's executive board, saying: "The numbers could go up again ... but the last two days were showing a declining trend."

Mr Tedros also reported in response to his appeal earlier this week for more countries to share more patient and other information about the outbreaks in their countries, not all countries had provided the requested information.

"There are some countries who have yet to send detailed case reports to WHO," he said. "We urge those member states to share that information immediately."

The death of a Chinese doctor who blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak has triggered a wave of public anger towards the government in Beijing, Peter Stubley reports:

Hong Kong threatens to jail those who break quarantine

Hong Kong has said it may jail or fine anyone who fails to observe the two-week quarantine for arrivals from mainland China, starting on Saturday.

Hong Kong has refused to completely seal its border with mainland China but hopes the quarantine will dissuade cross-border travelers.

It also applies to travelers coming from other countries who had been to mainland China in the past 14 days.

Hong Kong residents will be allowed to quarantine themselves at home while foreigners must stay in hotels or their arranged accommodations. Those without any plans will be sent to quarantine camps.

Those who do not observe the quarantine could face up to six months in jail.

Briton diagnosed with coronavirus posts about ordeal on Facebook

Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, is one of 41 new cases on the 'Diamond Princess' (Reuters)

The British passenger on board a cruise ship who tested positive for coronavirus has posted about his plight on social media.

Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton and who was believed to be on his honeymoon, posted on Facebook that he was not showing any symptoms but was being shipped from the Diamond Princess to hospital.

"Just to let you all know I have been diagnosed as having the virus and am being shipped to hospital," he wrote.

"Would also like to say that at the moment I am not showing any symptoms so just possible a carrier.

"Will let you know how I am going on when possible."

Testing more than a thousand people a day to be possible in UK from next week

 Testing of more than a thousand people a day for suspected coronavirus will be possible from next week in laboratories across the UK, Public Health England (PHE) said.

The diagnostic test currently used in London will be rolled out to centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to increase daily testing capacity and speed up results. A confirmatory test will continue to be conducted at PHE's Colindale laboratory.

Professor Yvonne Doyle, PHE medical director, said: "Once China confirmed that they had identified a novel coronavirus, Public Health England was ready to test potential cases in this country.

"We have now trained scientists in labs across the UK to conduct the specialist test - ensuring that we are well prepared should we begin to see an increased number of cases across the country."