Coronavirus: Japan cruise ship's US passengers home for further quarantine

Two planes carrying hundreds of US citizens from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Japan have arrived in the US.

One plane landed at a US Air Force air base in California and the other in Texas. Passengers will be isolated at military facilities for 14 days.

There were about 400 Americans on board the Diamond Princess. The ship, with some 3,700 passengers and crew, has been in quarantine since 3 February.

Meanwhile, China reported 2,048 new cases on Monday.

Of those new cases, 1,933 were from Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

More than 70,500 people across China have been infected by the virus. In Hubei alone, the official number of cases stands at 58,182, with 1,692 deaths. Most new cases and deaths have been reported in Wuhan, Hubei's largest city

In other developments:

• In Japan, a public gathering to celebrate the birthday of new Emperor Naruhito later this week has been cancelled, due to concerns over the spread of the virus
• Also in Japan, organisers of the Tokyo marathon due to take place on 1 March have cancelled the amateur part of the race, affecting some 38,000 runners, after cases of the virus were confirmed in Tokyo. Only elite runners will be allowed to take part
• In China, the National People's Congress standing committee said it would meet next week to discuss a delay of this year's Congress - the Communist Party's most important annual gathering - because of the outbreak
• At the weekend, an American woman tested positive for the virus in Malaysia after leaving a cruise liner docked off the coast of Cambodia
• A Russian woman who was ordered to go back to a quarantine facility by a St Petersburg court has returned to hospital. Last week, Alla Ilyina escaped from the facility after testing negative three times for the virus, but was told to remain quarantined for two weeks