Coronavirus outbreak: In China's Hubei, death toll rises by 242 in a day

Earlier, two fatalities were reported in Hong Kong and the Philippines. In central China's Hubei province, officials said 242 people died on Wednesday

The Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak reported a record rise in deaths and thousands more infections using a broader definition on Thursday, while Japan became the third place outside mainland China to suffer a fatality.

The epidemic has given China’s ruling Communist Party one of its sternest challenges in years, constrained the world’s second largest economy and triggered a purge of provincial bureaucrats.

With China’s streets, restaurants and flower markets bare, a miserable Valentine’s Day was expected on Friday.

Japan confirmed its first coronavirus death - a woman in her 80s living in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo - adding