Factbox: Latest on coronavirus spreading in China and beyond
(Reuters) - The number of new coronavirus infections inside China - the source of the outbreak - was for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere on Wednesday, with Italy and Iran emerging as epicenters of the rapidly spreading illness.
* Italy has reported more than 400 cases, centered on the industrial heartlands of Lombardy and Veneto.
* Iran's death toll rose to 26, the highest number of deaths from the virus outside China, it said on Thursday.
* China said the number of new deaths stood at 29 on Thursday, the lowest daily rate since Jan. 28 and reported 433 new cases, against 406 on Wednesday.
* The virus has now killed 2,744 people in the country, mostly in the central province of Hubei.
* China will focus on preventing those infected from crossing borders, a National Health Commission spokesman said on Thursday, while immigration authorities called for resumption of visa and passport services in low-risk coronavirus areas.
* Taiwan raised its epidemic response level to the highest as it prepared a $2 billion package to soften the economic impact and postponed a major religious event scheduled for next month.
* Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country, which has 23 cases of the virus, was operating on the basis of a pandemic and hospitals were under orders to ensure enough medical supplies, personal protective equipment and staff.
* Italians or people who recently visited Italy have tested positive in Algeria, Croatia, Israel, Spain and Switzerland.
* Brazil confirmed Latin America's first infection and the new disease was also detected for the first time in Pakistan, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Romania.
* Japanese woman tested positive for coronavirus for a second time as the number of confirmed cases in Japan, excluding the 704 on the quarantined cruise liner, rose above 190 on Thursday. The death toll rose to eight after another death was reported in Hokkaido.
* South Korea reported 334 additional cases of the new coronavirus on Thursday, the largest daily increase yet, as the United States issued a new travel warning for South Korea and the countries postponed a joint military drill.
* A Korean flight attendant who worked on the Seoul-Los Angeles route has tested positive for the virus, South Korea's disease control agency said on Thursday.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday warned of the possibility of a community spread of the coronavirus after a person in California who reportedly did not have relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient was infected.
* Iraq reported its sixth case on Thursday and confirmed cases in Kuwait rose to 43.
* Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended arrivals by foreigners for the Umrah pilgrimage and tourists from some two dozen countries.
* The southern Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen prepares to ban eating cats and dogs amid a clamp-down on the wildlife trade that scientists suspect led to the coronavirus outbreak.
* Moscow authorities are rounding up stray animals and exterminating rats over virus fears, actions that animal rights campaigners decried as cruel and scientifically groundless.
* India's shooting federation has dropped Italy as a training venue for its shooters and canceled plans to set up a pre-Olympic base in South Korea, its president told Reuters on Thursday.
* The Watches & Wonders watch fair in Geneva, scheduled for April 25-29, has been canceled due to the outbreak.
* Most European firms operating in China expect revenue to fall in the first half of this year because of the ongoing epidemic and government control measures, showed a poll by business groups on Thursday.
* Central banks face limits offsetting the coronavirus, Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe said on Thursday.
* Risk aversion drove global stocks lower on Thursday, with more than $3 trillion in value wiped out this week alone, and U.S. Treasuries yields hit record lows.
* Global stocks have further to run this year, but the likelihood of a correction of 10% or more is high, according to Reuters polls of market strategists, with the severity of the economic hit from coronavirus being the biggest risk.
(Compiled by Amy Caren Daniel, Sarah Morland and Milla Nissi; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Tomasz Janowski)
