A worker in protective suit measures the body temperature of a woman during a door-to-door search to inspect residents following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, February 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters)

Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported new 93 deaths and 1,807 new cases detected, bringing the total in the province to 59,989.

Chinese experts confirmed that Chloroquine Phosphate, an antimalarial drug, has a certain curative effect on Covid-19, Sun Yanrong, deputy head of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development, said at a press conference on Monday. She said the drug will be included in the next version of the treatment guidelines and applied in wider clinical trials as soon as possible.

Hongkong’s Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said 2 chartered flights will evacuate the 350 Hong Kong passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan. The flights are expected to arrive in Hongkong on Thursday. Hundreds of Americans who had been passengers on the ship landed in the US on Monday, including 14 people who tested positive for the virus, raising the number of virus cases aboard the ship to 454, US officials said.