The global death toll from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak has reached 724, with the illness expected to become more deadly than SARS.
Another 81 fatalities have been recorded in Hubei province in China, where Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the outbreak, is located.
The number of new infections rose on Friday from a day earlier, Chinese health officials said, reversing two days of declines.
Japan also confirmed its first national to die from the virus, putting the global death toll just 49 behind the 774 fatalities recorded during the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003.
The US has confirmed its first death from the virus, a 60-year old US citizen who died at Jinyintan Hospital.
The UAE also says it has seven cases of the disease.
More than 34,000 people have been infected around the world, almost all in China
Thousands of people remain stranded on cruise ships docked in Japan and Hong Kong, with Hong Kong imposing a mandatory two-week quarantine for anyone arriving from the mainland.
The World Health Organisation has warned of a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective gear as Chinese health authorities confirmed 2,841 new cases of the new coronavirus in Hubei.
Among them is Dr Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist who died in Wuhan having tried to warn others about the outbreak back in December.
Since then China has rushed to build two new hospitals in Wuhan to cope with the crisis, with the second becoming operational from Saturday.
Reporting by IRN
