THE UK government has declared coronavirus a "serious and imminent threat to public health" as it introduced new powers to deal with the spread of the virus.

Under new measures announced on Monday, the Department of Health said people with coronavirus can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, and can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat to public health.

A spokesman said: "Our infection control procedures are world leading, and the NHS is well prepared to deal with novel coronavirus.

"We are strengthening our regulations so we can keep individuals in supported isolation for their own safety and if public health professionals consider they may be at risk of spreading the virus to other members of the public.

"This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country."

MORE NEWS:

It comes after a British man who caught coronavirus in Singapore appears to be linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in England, France, and Spain.

Health officials are not confirming a link or giving detail on his relationship to the other people diagnosed with the illness, but he is reported to be a middle-aged British man and is understood to have been the first UK national to contract the disease.

There are now four confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, with this man having been the third to test positive.

Meanwhile, in China – where the world's first coronavirus cases were recorded in December – death toll rose by 97 early today (Monday) to 908.

South Wales Argus: Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital, built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Picture: Gao Xiang/Xinhua via APDoctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital, built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Picture: Gao Xiang/Xinhua via AP

The death toll has passed the 774 people believed to have died of Sars, another viral outbreak that originated in China, in 2002.

There are now 40,171 confirmed cases of coronavirus on the Chinese mainland.

In Japan, 66 more people on a quarantined cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus, the Japanese health minister said today.

There are now 136 confirmed cases on the Diamond Princess, quarantined in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, with officials previously saying 70 people had the virus among the 3,711 passengers and crew.

Asian stock markets slid on Monday following warnings that investor optimism about the disease and its economic impact coming under control might be premature.

Chinese businesses are reeling from anti-disease measures that have closed shops, restaurants and factories and disrupted travel.