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The United States is preparing for thousands of new coronavirus cases and will ask Americans returning from abroad to go into "self-quarantine" for 14 days as part of the effort to contain the outbreak, Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday.

Officials ordered the U.S. Capitol complex closed to much of the public starting on Thursday, one day after a staffer for a U.S. senator from Washington state tested positive for the new coronavirus.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had no time to consult with European allies before announcing coronavirus travel restrictions, but hoped the curbs on travel to Europe and China could be lifted very quickly.

Italy added new restrictions on Wednesday to a lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus, ordering bars, restaurants and most shops to close.

An Azeri woman who was quarantined after returning from Iran has died from coronavirus, Azerbaijan's first death from the outbreak, the country's emergency crisis center said on Thursday.

The Netherlands banned events of more than 100 people on Thursday in response to the coronavirus epidemic and told people with respiratory symptoms to stay home.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday issued a level 3 travel alert https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/coronavirus-europe for 29 countries in Europe, recommending people to avoid all non-essential travel and restricting entry of foreign nationals from the region in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives expressed strong opposition to coronavirus legislation on which the Democratic-led chamber is expected to vote on Thursday, but also said lawmakers could probably reach an agreement on changes within the next day or two.

British cases of coronavirus rose 29% to 590 over the past 24 hours and the death toll rose to 10, health authorities said.

A wide-ranging coronavirus response bill sought by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives was criticized on Thursday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who said more limited legislation could be sought.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son on Thursday tweeted an offer to donate a million free face masks to help fight the coronavirus outbreak a day after twitter users criticized his proposal to give away test kits as an unnecessary burden on clinics and hospitals.

British food delivery service Deliveroo said it will allow orders to be left outside people's addresses so that the courier does not have to come into contact with the customer, to minimize the risk of spreading coronavirus.

China gave tech giant Tencent Holdings the green light on Thursday to publish Nintendo Switch games Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, taking the number of games licensed for the console in the world's biggest game market to three.

The Bank of England must tread carefully to avoid financial stability dangers if it creates a digital equivalent to its existing banknotes, Governor Mark Carney said on Thursday.

Poland has reported its first death from coronavirus, local authorities in the city of Poznan said on Thursday, as reported by private broadcaster TVN24.

Iran on Thursday reported 75 new deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, bringing the death toll to 429 in the worst-hit country in the Middle East.

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak today:

Travelers scrambled to rebook flights and global markets reeled on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping restrictions on travel from Europe, hitting battered airlines and further straining ties with the continent.

There are now 2,078 coronavirus cases in Germany, statistics from the Johns Hopkins University showed on Thursday.

European airline stocks already battered by the coronavirus plunged again on Thursday, as a U.S. travel ban on much of continental Europe deepened the sector's misery and piled pressure on governments to offer emergency support.