French ministers hold meeting to discuss virus

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe held a meeting of ministers and officials on Wednesday to take stock of the threat from the new coronavirus.

The meeting came after it was announced earlier a 60-year-old Frenchman had died in a Paris hospital, the second new virus-related death in France since it emerged in China late last year.

The head of France's national health service, Jerome Salomon, made the announcement, but didn't say where the man contracted the virus or provide other details.

The man was among three new cases announced in France on Wednesday.

France has stepped up restrictions on people who have travelled from neighbouring Italy after a new outbreak there.

France has reported 17 cases of the virus, including two deaths.