China has announced a drop in new cases from the coronavirus outbreak for a third consecutive day.

On Sunday, authorities reported 2,009 new cases and 142 more deaths nationwide.

New cases spiked earlier in the week after a change in the way they were counted but have been falling ever since.

In total more than 68,000 people have been infected in China, with the death toll standing at 1,665.

Outside of China there have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 countries. Four people have died - in France, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.

Speaking before the latest figures were released Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the drop in new cases showed "that overall the epidemic is controllable".

"We've taken such complete prevention and control efforts, efforts that are so comprehensive, that I can't see any other country that can do this," he said.

In other developments:

The number of people who have tested positive on a cruise ship being held in quarantine in a Japanese port has risen to 355. The Diamond Princess has seen the highest number of cases outside of China. The US and Canada are sending planes to evacuate its citizens from the ship

China's central bank is to disinfect and store used banknotes before recirculating them in a bid stop the virus spreading

French officials said on Saturday that a Chinese tourist died in France after contracting the new coronavirus - the first fatality from the disease outside Asia

On another cruise ship docked in Cambodia, an 83-year-old American woman has tested positive for the virus after arriving by air in Malaysia

In the UK, all but one of nine people being treated have been discharged from hospital

Five new cases have been confirmed in Singapore, bringing the total there to 72. Eighteen have fully recovered and have left hospital.

On Saturday, World Health Organisation (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Beijing' response to the outbreak.

"China has bought the world time. We don't know how much time," he said. "We're encouraged that outside China, we have not yet seen widespread community transmission."

Source: BBC

BDST: 1148 HRS, FEB 16, 2020
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