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Coronavirus latest: North Korea puts foreign dignitaries in quarantine... as South Korea and Italy report jump in casesBy Evening Standard

North Korea has quarantined hundreds of foreigners in a bid to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus.

The authoritarian state denies having any cases of Covid-19 so far.

More than 79,000 people have the virus worldwide, and at least 2,619 people have died.

Around 380 people - mainly diplomats from abroad - have now been put on lockdown in the country, according to the BBC.

Roughly 200 people had already been confined in the capital Pyongyang for 30 days, but this time limit has now been extended.

It comes as the reclusive nation’s neighbour, South Korea, reported a massive increase in cases of the virus.

The number of confirmed cases jumped by 161 to 763.

And another two deaths in the country brings the total death toll there to seven.

Meanwhile he UK Chief Medical Officer on Sunday confirmed that four of the 32 people who had been evacuated from the Princess Diamond cruise ship in Japan had tested positive for Covid-19.

This brought the total number of cases in the UK to 13.

Italy has placed a slew of towns on lockdown in the northern region of Lombardy after an outbreak of more than 100 infections.

Italy now has the largest number of cases outside Asia with 152 cases and four deaths with the most recent death annnounced on Monday.

On Monday morning both Kuwait and Bahrain reported their first confirmed cases of the illness.

According to Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA, the three cases there were found in people who had travelled from Iran.

Iran’s leaders had denied that the coronavirus had made it to their country.

But over the weekend authorities there reported a jump in people with Covid-19 to 43, and eight fatalities have been attributed to it.

Warning that China’s virus epidemic is “still grim and complex,” president Xi Jinping called for more efforts to stop the outbreak, revive industry and prevent the disease from disrupting spring planting of crops.

Mr Xi defended the ruling Communist Party’s response as “timely and effective” in a video conference with officials in charge of anti-disease work, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

President Xi also urged businesses to get back to work though he said the epidemic was still "severe and complex, and prevention and control work is in the most difficult and critical stage"

The risk level in four Chinese regions has been lowered.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said his government had increased its anti-virus alert level by one notch to “red,” the highest level.

It allows for the temporary closure of schools and reduced operation of public transportation and flights to and from South Korea.

The new school year in South Korea was postponed by one week until Monday 9 March.

Mr Moon said the outbreak “has reached a crucial watershed,” and that the next few days will be critical.

“We shouldn’t be bound by regulations and hesitate to take unprecedented, powerful measures,” he added.

The South Korean market index dropped 3.9 per cent on Monday morning, with Australia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand all suffering losses as well.