Coronavirus | Death toll rises to 259, nearly 12,000 confirmed infections in China

The National Health Commission said in its daily update that 46 more people had succumbed to the respiratory disease.

All but one of the new deaths came in hardest-hit Hubei province, the epicentre of an outbreak that has spread around the world.

The virus emerged in December in Hubei’s provincial capital Wuhan, and has been traced to a meat market that sold wild game.

The number of infections in China also rose, by 2,102, bringing the nationwide total to 11,791.