February 2 coronavirus news

If you've traveled in or transited through mainland China, you won't be allowed into New Zealand unless you're a New Zealand national.

The new restrictions on foreign nationals begin on February 3, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in a press release Sunday.

The ban will be in place for up to 14 days, and is aimed at helping contain the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. So far, there have been no confirmed coronavirus cases in New Zealand or any South Pacific island.

New Zealand citizens and permanent residents and their immediate family members will still be able to enter -- but must self-isolate for 14 days after arriving back into the country.

What does the New Zealand government say about traveling to China?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has raised its travel advice for mainland China to "do not travel," the highest level.

Other countries have also banned people traveling from China

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called on manufacturers to ramp up production of medical equipment needed to control the coronavirus outbreak.

Li -- who is the second-most powerful man in China -- said it was important to "make every minute count," according to a government press release Sunday.

Li warned that getting daily necessities could become more challenging, and stressed the need to keep supply chains open to ensure groceries are available for the public.

Previously, Li asked the European Union to help China procure medical supplies, according to a Chinese government statement.

What's the background?

China is facing a public health care crisis. Patients, medical staff and experts have told of delays in testing for the virus, in informing the public the true nature of the virus' spread, and of an already overburdened health system creaking under the enormous weight of a rapidly expanding outbreak.

People in Wuhan have told CNN that some hospitals have run out of the test kits needed to diagnose patients with coronavirus.

Wuhan health authorities have acknowledged that hospitals are overwhelmed, and the city is building two more hospitals within days.

Airlines operating in the United States will be required to ask all passengers booked on flights from outside the US if they’ve been to mainland China in last 14 days. 

The Transport Security Administration (TSA) will issue a new security directive to airlines from Sunday, according to a person briefed on the restrictions.

Chinese nationals coming from China and connecting through another foreign airport will be denied travel. Those with pre-clearance are exempted.

There are also new directives that relate to US citizens.

US citizens who have been to China in the last 14 days need to re-book to one of seven gateway airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport, Seattle, San Francisco International Airport, Chicago, Atlanta and Honolulu.

TSA notified airlines Saturday about the restrictions. CNN is reaching out to TSA for comment.

The Wuhan coronavirus has spread throughout the world since the first cases were detected in central China in December.

The vast majority of the cases are in mainland China, where more than 14,000 people have been infected and 305 people have died. But there are also more than 160 confirmed cases abroad.

One person has died outside of mainland China -- a 44-year-old Chinese man in the Philippines.

Here's the full list of places outside mainland China with confirmed cases:

British Airways, Qantas and Lufthansa -- among others -- have announced they will stop flying to mainland China. Other airlines are reducing the number of flights.

There's a few factors that play into this.

Travel alerts: As the Wuhan coronavirus spreads around China, infecting more people, a number of countries have raised their travel advisory warnings. The United Kingdom, for instance, is now warning against all but essential travel to mainland China, and is advising against all travel to Hubei province, where the outbreak was first reported.

Looking after their staff: Airlines are under pressure from their staff, who obviously want to protect themselves. On Friday, the US Association of Flight Attendants -- which represents 50,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines -- called on the government to work with airlines to discontinue all travel to China until the spread of coronavirus is contained.

Slow business: Due to fear -- and travel warnings -- fewer people want to travel to China. That impacts airlines' business, making it less financially attractive for them to fly those routes to China. As United Airlines said when suspended flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, the decision was made "due to the continued drop in demand for travel to China and the US Department of State’s decision to raise its China travel advisory to a Level 4." 

Read more about what's going on here.

The Philippines reported its first Wuhan coronavirus fatality on Sunday.

The victim -- who died Saturday -- was a 44-year-Chinese man who flew in from Wuhan in January.

It's the first confirmed Wuhan coronavirus death from outside of mainland China, and brings the total toll to 305.

He was the partner of a 38-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling with him. She was the first confirmed case reported in the Philippines.

Both patients were being treated in isolation units at a Manila hospital.

Secretary of Health Francisco Duque said authorities are working with the Chinese embassy to respectfully handle the remains of the man while following international protocol to contain the disease.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has approved a request to provide military housing for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined after arriving in the US from overseas travel, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Department of Health and Human Services asked the Defense Department to provide several facilities capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms through to February 29, the Pentagon said.

What's the background?

On Friday, the Trump administration announced it will deny entry to foreign nationals who have traveled in China in the last 14 days, starting Sunday.

Any US citizen who has been in China's Hubei province -- epicenter of the outbreak -- in the last 14 days will be allowed back into the country. But they'll be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine once they're back in the US.

US citizens who've been in other parts of mainland China in the last 14 days will undergo screening at US ports of entry and up to 14 days of self-monitoring.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines announced more flight cancellations to China on Saturday as coronavirus cases continued to rise.

Delta said it will suspend flights between the United States and China starting on Sunday until at least April 30, according to a press release. 

That's four days earlier than it had initially planned. Delta's last China-bound flight left on Saturday, February 1, and its final returning flight from China to the United States leaves on Sunday. 

Delta moved the date up after the US State Department warned that people should not travel to China due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus, which was first discovered in Wuhan, Hubei province, in December. 

United Airlines -- which announced that it will suspend flights to Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai from February 6 -- is also reducing flights from the US to Hong Kong.

Yet it's not only US carriers that are cancelling flights. Here's a list of other airlines that have reduced -- or completely cut -- flights to China:

Three more patients have been confirmed infected with coronavirus in South Korea, bringing the country's total to 15, the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced in a press release.

The KCDC said a 28-year-old man had tested positive. He was among the 368 repatriated South Koreans who arrived from Wuhan on a charter flight on January 31. The rest of the evacuees have tested negative for the coronavirus.

A 40-year-old Chinese woman also tested positive. She was already in quarantine as she is related to another patient who contracted the virus.