Coronavirus deaths rise sharply as global emergency is declared

The number of people who have died from the coronavirus has risen sharply to 213, hours after the outbreak was declared a global public health emergency.

Chinese health officials said 9,692 people have now contracted the illness.

This is an increase of 1,981 cases and 81 deaths since Wednesday.

The World Health Organization has now declared that the coronavirus outbreak is a global public health emergency.

No deaths have been reported outside of china, but the virus has spread to more than a dozen countries.

The vast majority of cases have been in Hubei province and the Chinese city of Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak.