The number of new cases of a coronavirus in China fell slightly on Sunday, more than three weeks after the outbreak's epicenter was locked down, and a Chinese tourist died from the virus in France, the first fatality in Europe.

The coronavirus, thought to have emerged at a wildlife market in the central Chinese province of Hubei, has presented the ruling Communist Party with the huge challenge of halting its spread while at the same time minimising damage to the world's second-largest economy.

Beijing's latest figures showed 68,500 cases of the illness and 1,665 deaths, most of them in Hubei.