The Philippines on Sunday said that a 44-year-old Chinese man had died of the new coronavirus, the first fatality outside of China, prompting tighter travel restrictions for both Filipinos and foreigners.

The Department of Health said there were now two confirmed infections in the Philippines, including the deceased man from Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, who died on Saturday.

The man who died was a companion of a 38-year-old Chinese woman, also from Wuhan, who was the first to test positive for the virus in the Philippines.