The latest on the coronavirus spreading in China and beyond

The death toll from a virus in China has risen to 56 and the number of people infected across the country is nearing 2,000, authorities said Sunday.

Experts say that the Wuhan coronavirus is in the same family of viruses as SARS and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and has no known cure until today.

The mysterious pneumonia virus emerged from a live animal market in China's central city of Wuhan in December.

Despite the lockdowns on 18 Chinese cities populated by 56 million people, the coronavirus has now infected far too many people, over far too vast a geographic area, to be easily controlled.

The places that have confirmed cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

China is to take stricter and more targeted measures to curb the spread, state television reported.

The previously unknown strain is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in Wuhan.

State-run China Global Television Network reported in a tweet that a doctor who had been treating patients in Wuhan, 62-year-old Liang Wudong (pictured), had died from the novel coronavirus. China's National Health Commission said on Saturday it had formed six medical teams totalling 1,230 medical staff to help Wuhan. Three of the six teams, from Shanghai, Guangdong and military hospitals have arrived in Wuhan.

Thailand has reported five cases, Australia has reported four, Singapore, France, Japan and Taiwan three, Vietnam, South Korea and the United States two apiece, and Nepal one.

Dr. Gauden Galea, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in China. The WHO said that while the outbreak was an emergency for China, it was not yet a global health emergency.

Pedestrians wearing protective masks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Symptoms include fever, cough and difficulty breathing.

People wear masks on a train. China says the virus is mutating and can be transmitted through human contact.

Those most affected are older people and those with underlying health conditions.

Three research teams have begun work on developing potential vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said.

Scientists hope to be testing the first possible vaccines in three months' time.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is under severe travel restrictions, with urban transport shut and outgoing flights suspended.

China has advised people to avoid crowds and more than 10 cities in the central province of Hubei, where Wuhan is located, have suspended some transport.

Beijing closed tourist access to the Forbidden City and cancelled large gatherings, including two Lunar New Year temple fairs, and closed part of the Great Wall.

Walt Disney Co's Shanghai Disney Resort will be closed from Saturday.

Hong Kong has declared an emergency and will extend school holiday closures until Feb. 17. The city also cancelled all official Lunar New Year celebrations and official visits to mainland China.

China's Haikou city, capital of the southern island province of Hainan, started a 14-day centralised medical observation for tourists from Hubei. Sanya city in the province, a popular vacation destination, has shut down all tourist sites.

Airports around the world have stepped up screening.

Shares and crude prices fell sharply on Friday as investors moved into safe-haven assets amid concerns that the virus would curb travel and hurt economic demand.

Some experts believe the virus is not as dangerous as the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed nearly 800 people, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has killed more than 700 people since 2012.