The death toll from coronavirus rose to 1483 in mainland China on Friday as the total number of confirmed cases went past 60,000, Chinese health authority confirmed.

Most of the deaths were reported in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic. The total number of cases rose to 63,851.

Japan reported its first death due to the coronavirus outbreak, after confirming 44 new cases.

PM Modi had earlier written a letter to his Chinese counterpart and offered to help in dealing with the epidemic. He also expressed his solidarity with the people of China and offered his condolence at the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

India has cancelled all existing visas of Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, the Indian Embassy in China confirmed in a tweet. They will have to apply for fresh visas to visit India.

The Kerala government had earlier declared novel coronavirus epidemic as “state emergency” after three people were tested positive in the southern India state. The status has now been lifted.

ALSO READ | How worried should I be about the shortage of face masks?

Three deaths, including one in Japan, have been reported outside mainland China. A 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who had visited Wuhan city in Hubei died last week.

In the first death outside China due to the epidemic, a man died in the Philippines after visiting Wuhan.

The G7 countries, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, have all confirmed cases of the deadly virus.

The World Health Organization had declared the crisis a global health emergency.

The post Coronavirus outbreak: Death Toll Nears 1500 in China; Japan reports first casualty appeared first on APN Live.