China virus toll nears 500; cruise ships, Hong Kong flights hit

Cars travel on Yanan Road, a main commercial area in Hangzhou, after the city imposed new measures to prevent and control the new coronavirus, in Zhejiang province, China February 4, 2020. Picture taken February 4, 2020. [China Daily via REUTERS]

The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China passed 490 on Wednesday, as two US airlines suspended flights to Hong Kong following the first fatality there and 10 cases were confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined in Japan.

China’s National Health Commission said another 65 deaths were reported on Tuesday, a new daily record bringing the toll on the mainland to 490, mostly in and around the locked-down central city of Wuhan where the virus emerged late last year.