Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk at Piccadilly Circus main tourist destination in central London, March 5, 2020. (FRANK AUGSTEIN / AP)

LONDON/SCRANTON/ROME/BUDAPEST/PARIS/DUBLIN/HELSINKI/VIENNA/LOS ANGELES/MADRID/RIO DE JANEIRO/MOSCOW/BERLIN/DOUALA/VATICAN CITY/BELGRADE/PRAGUE - The Vatican said on Friday that a patient in its health services had tested positive for coronavirus.

Most Vatican employees who use its health services live in Italy on the other side of the border with the 108-acre city state.

Spokesman Matteo Bruni said the discovery was made on Thursday, but gave no details on whether the person who tested positive was such an employee or among the relatively few clergy or guards who live inside its walls.

He said that outpatient services in Vatican clinics had been suspended to sanitize the areas.

Serbia and Cameroon on Friday also reported their first cases

The Vatican has said Pope Francis, who cancelled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy, is suffering only from a cold that is "without symptoms related to other pathologies."

ALSO READ: Pope tests negative for virus; UK sets out plans to curb virus

Separately, Serbia confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Friday. Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar told reporters that a 43-year-old man, who travelled to Budapest, was diagnosed with virus and that he feels well.

In Africa, Cameroon became the latest country in the continent to be hit by the coronavirus.

The country's health ministry on Friday confirmed the first case in a 58-year-old French citizen who arrived in the capital Yaounde on Feb 24.

Cameroon, which is situated in Central Africa, is the fourth sub-Saharan country to report coronavirus after Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. The total number of cases on the continent is 29.

UK reports 1st fatality as infections rise to 115

The first novel coronavirus death in Britain has been confirmed on Thursday, as the total number of infections jumped to 115, according to British health authorities.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was optimistic that Britain is well prepared to cope with the spread of the virus.

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said in a statement later that the person who died was an older patient with underlying health conditions

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said in a statement later that the person who died was an older patient with underlying health conditions.

Britain is moving into the second of four phases in its plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus, Whitty said, adding that it was now considering measures to try to delay the peak of an epidemic which officials are anticipating in the coming weeks.

Britain has so far registered 115 cases of the coronavirus.

Netherlands reports 1st coronavirus death

An 86-year-year old man infected with the coronavirus died in the Netherlands on Friday, the country's first known fatality from the epidemic, the National Health Institute said.

He died in hospital in the port city of Rotterdam. 

As of Thursday, there were 82 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Netherlands.

Germany reports 134 new cases

Germany on Friday reported 134 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, the Robert Koch Institute said.

The number of cases rose to 534, up from 400 reported on Thursday evening. More than half of the cases, 281, are in the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state.

Norway quarantines 1,300 soldiers

The Norwegian military quarantined 1,300 personnel on a base in the northern part of the country after a case of coronavirus was confirmed among them.

No one will be allowed in or out of the Skjold base in the Troms region after one person tested positive for the virus on Thursday, the Norwegian Armed Forces said in a statement. The infected person doesn’t have serious symptoms.

Norway on Thursday raised the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country to 86 from 56 earlier. Two of those were in the Troms and Finnmark region.

Czech PM tells citizens to avoid all Italy travel

Czech citizens should avoid all travel in Italy, and those returning from the European country worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak should stay home for two weeks, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Twitter on Friday.

The Czech government has already barred flights from northern Italian cities such as Milan or Venice.

Greece has14 new cases

Greece has detected 14 new cases of coronavirus, health authorities said on Friday, bringing the total in the country to 45.

A health ministry official said a ban on public gatherings would remain in force in three districts in the south-west of the country, and schools in the same area would remain shut until further notice.

US Senate passes US$8.3b bill to battle virus as toll hits 12

The death toll from coronavirus in the United States rose to 12 on Thursday with the latest fatality recorded in King County, Washington, and 53 new cases broke out across the country, striking for the first time in Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and San Francisco.

US President Donald Trump said the US economy might take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak but he predicted the challenge would eventually pass and defended his handling of the crisis.

It’s going to all work out. Everybody has to be calm. We have plans for every single possibility ... 

Donald Trump, US president

“It’s going to all work out. Everybody has to be calm," he said. "We have plans for every single possibility and I think that's what we have to do. We hope it doesn't last too long."

The US Senate passed an US$8.3 billion bill to combat the outbreak 96-1, a day after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved it. The bill now goes to Trump for his signature.

READ MORE: Washington state man becomes first US coronavirus fatality

A helicopter flew testing kits to a cruise liner idled off the coast of California and barred from docking in San Francisco after at least 35 people developed flu-like symptoms aboard the ship, which has been linked to two other confirmed cases of COVID-19.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of cases in that state had doubled to 22, while Texas confirmed its first three coronavirus cases and Tennessee and Colorado each reported one, bringing the number of affected states to 16.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) early on Thursday reported 149 confirmed and presumed US cases. Those numbers are presumed not to include the 53 new cases reported on Thursday.

In this image grab from video provided by the California National Guard, a helicopter carrying airmen with the 129th Rescue Wing flies over the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California, March 5, 2020. (CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD VIA AP)

Italian toll jumps, govt doubles financial help

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 41 over the past 24 hours to 148, the Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday.

The accumulative number of cases in the country totaled 3,296.

The death toll in Italy has rose by 41 over the past 24 hours to 148

In a statement on Thursday, Italy's Superior Institute of Health said that the average age of death cases is 81, and more than two-thirds of them had three or more pre-existing diseases.

Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said the government would spend 7.5 billion euros (US$8.4 billion) on the emergency and told the European Commission it would raise this year's deficit goal to 2.5 percent of national output from the current 2.2 percent target.

READ MORE: EU grants govts fiscal leeway to fight coronavirus impact

Canada's British Columbia reports '1st case with unknown origin'

Canada's British Columbia province has identified eight more presumptive cases of a new coronavirus including one involving a woman who has no recent travel history, CBC News reported on Thursday.

British Columbia now has 21 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including four patients who have recovered, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

French lawmaker hospitalized after contracting coronavirus

A member of France's National Assembly has been hospitalized in intensive care after contracting coronavirus, the lower house of parliament said in a statement on Thursday.

Two more people have died from coronavirus infection in France, taking the total to nine, while the number of confirmed infections rose by 154 to 577.

Ireland reports first coronavirus community transmission, cases hit 13

Health authorities in Ireland reported the first community transmission of coronavirus not associated with travel from an affected area of Italy on Thursday as the number of cases rose to 13 from six a day earlier.

Health authorities in Ireland reported the first community transmission of coronavirus not associated with travel from an affected area of Italy as the number of cases rose to 13

Coronavirus shuts school attended by Swedish royals

In Sweden, an exclusive private school in Stockholm, which counts Swedish royalty among its pupils, closed on Thursday after a student tested positive for the coronavirus, the royal court said.

Attended by Princess Estelle, granddaughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and second in line to the throne, the Campus Manilla school draws its pupils from Sweden's wealthiest families.

The princess is not the pupil who tested positive, the court's press secretary Johan Tegel said, adding only that she "did not attend school today."

With 30 more individuals diagnosed with the novel coronavirus on Thursday alone, the number of confirmed cases in Sweden rose to 94, according to Sweden's Public Health Agency. 

Russia cancels flagship St Petersburg economic forum

Russia has cancelled its flagship annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum this year as a precaution against coronavirus, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Thursday.

The forum, which was due to be held in St Petersburg on June 3-6, is usually chaired by President Vladimir Putin and is seen as one of the main international events on Russia's economic agenda.

New cases in other parts of Europe

Hungary has confirmed a third case of the coronavirus, after a Hungarian man who had returned from Milan to the eastern city of Debrecen on Feb 29 tested positive, the government said on its official website on Thursday.

Five new cases of COVID-19 infection were confirmed in Finland on Thursday, bringing the total number of such cases in the country to 12, announced Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

In Denmark, another five people tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 20, according to Danish Patient Safety Authority.

Ecuador's Public Health Ministry said Thursday the number of its confirmed COVID-19 cases had reached 13, making it the worst-affected country in Latin America to date

Estonia's Health Board said a third COVID-19 infection case was confirmed in the Baltic country.

Thirteen new cases of coronavirus infection were reported in Austria on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 42, according to health authorities.

READ MORE: EU council reports 1st infection, Russia suspends export of masks

In Belgium, 27 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Federal Public Health Service, bringing the total to 50.

There were 400 cases confirmed in Germany as of 15:00 local time (1400 GMT) Thursday, up by 138 from a day earlier. 

Egypt registers 12 new cases on Nile cruise ship

Egypt’s health ministry said it registered 12 people carrying the coronavirus on a Nile cruise ship heading to the southern city of Luxor from Aswan, state television reported on Friday.

The country had until now diagnosed three people with the virus, one of whom it said had fully recovered after receiving treatment

Virus cases in South America rise

Ecuador's Public Health Ministry said Thursday the number of its confirmed COVID-19 cases had reached 13, making it the worst-affected country in Latin America to date.

Brazil has confirmed eight cases of the new coronavirus as of Thursday, the Health Ministry said adding that six of the cases are in Sao Paulo state, while Rio and Espirito Santo states have one case each.

The ministry also said that it has registered the first cases of the virus being transmitted within the country, whereas previous infections were among people who contracted the virus abroad and then traveled to Brazil.

In neighboring Argentina, the health ministry confirmed the country's second case on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Chilean Health Ministry announced the country's fourth case involving a 40-year-old patient who returned from Italy on Sunday and developed symptoms of the virus on Wednesday.

Peru has recorded its first confirmed case of coronavirus. The patient is a 25-year-old man who had traveled to Spain, France and the Czech Republic.