BEIGING - The death toll from China's coronavirus outbreak has surpassed 250, the government said on Saturday, as foreign nations tightened restrictions on travellers from China in response to the rapid spread of the illness.
At least 259 people have died and 11,791 people have been infected in China by the new coronavirus, according to new figures from China's health officials.
Most of the latest fatalities are from Hubei province. The city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, is located in Hubei.
Another 17,888 people are suspected of being infected, while 243 have been discharged, according to a separate report by China's state-owned international channel, CGTN.
On Friday, it was reported that there were more than 102,000 people under medical observation.
Fresh cases have been detected abroad, with more than 20 countries now affected, including Spain and the United Kingdom.
The top Communist Party official in Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the virus first emerged in December, on Friday expressed "remorse" because local authorities acted too slowly.
The government said it would also stop issuing visas for foreign visitors who had been in China in the past two weeks.
Vietnam Airlines, the country's national carrier, and budget airline Jetstar Pacific said they would stop flying to mainland China along with Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Bangladesh evacuates citizens from Wuhan
Bangladesh evacuated 316 of its citizens, including 15 children, from the Chinese city of Wuhan, in a chartered Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane, the carrier's Chief Executive Officer Mokabbir Hossain told DPA news agency.
Seven of the returnees were transported to a hospital shortly after their arrival in Dhaka, an airport health official said, adding that the rest of the evacuees will be placed in quarantine for two weeks at a location near the airport. (Aljazeera)