The Chinese government said the death toll from the Corona virus rose to 80 after recording 24 additional deaths in the central province of Hubei. Also, 371 new cases of the virus were recorded, bringing the total number of cases to more than 2,700 cases nationwide. Beijing authorities extended the Chinese New Year holidays until Sunday to contain the spread of the disease.

China is fighting to contain the spread of the disease by isolating entire cities in Hubei. Authorities suspect that another 5,794 people will be infected with the virus, which was first detected last December, according to the National Health Commission.

An additional 17 cases were reported in the semi-autonomous regions of China, namely Hong Kong (5 cases) and Macau (two cases), as well as other cases in Taiwan.

The Chinese authorities have strengthened travel restrictions in an effort to stem the spread of the new Corona virus, while France and the United States are preparing to evacuate their nationals from the quarantined area.

A health worker in China checks the temperature of a man for infection with the Corona virus at a Beijing subway station (Getty Images)

Strict measures
China isolated the Hubei province, where the viral disease had spread, in an unprecedented process affecting tens of millions of people.

Wuhan, the center of Hubei Province, has been under quarantine since last Thursday to prevent the spread of the disease. In all, 56 million people are cut off from the world.

On Sunday, the mayor of Wuhan said he expected about 1,000 more cases to be recorded, based on the number of hospital patients who have not yet undergone the virus testing.

Senior Chinese health officials announced Monday that the "capacity to spread the virus has been strengthened," although it does not appear to be "severely SARS," another type of coronavirus that has killed hundreds in the early 2000s.

Treat cases
Yesterday, official media outlets in China announced the first success in treating cases of Coronavirus. Xinhua reported that the condition of 11 medical personnel infected with the virus has improved, noting that the clinical symptoms of these people are under control.

On the other hand, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tidros Adhanom, went to Beijing yesterday evening for talks with Chinese officials and health experts on the outbreak of the new Corona virus.

Adhanom added in a tweet on Twitter that he wanted to "strengthen the partnership" with China "regarding providing more protection in the face of this outbreak."

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Ten countries
As for confirmed cases outside China, they are distributed in ten countries: Japan (3 cases), South Korea (2), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Australia (4), Malaysia (3), Thailand (5), Nepal (one) and the United States (two cases) France (3).

Last Thursday, the World Health Organization considered it "too early" to declare an international emergency because of the new virus.