China virus death toll jumps to 106, confirmed cases surpass 4,100

• The total number of confirmed cases has climbed to more than 4,200 worldwide
• Vietnam isolates 35 suspected cases of coronavirus
• US companies are starting to restrict employee travel to China

The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 and nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, Chinese authorities said on Tuesday morning.

The total number of confirmed cases has climbed to more than 4,174 nationwide. The majority of those who have died are from Hubei province, which is at the epicentre of the outbreak. Hubei health authorities said 24 more people had died from the virus and 1,291 more people in their province were infected on Monday.

While US officials from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the immediate health risk of the pneumonia-like illness – known as 2019-nCoV – to the American public remained low, the nation’s companies are starting to restrict their employees’ travel to China.

Facebook has started restricting employee travel, according to Bloomberg. The limits, which went into effect on Monday, halt non-essential travel to China by all Facebook employees. If workers have to visit the country, they need specific approval.

Facebook staff based in China, and those who recently returned from trips to the country, are being told to work from home, Bloomberg reported.

Some US banks and financial firms, including Citigroup, have told staff in Hong Kong to stay home for two weeks and monitor their health if they have travelled to Wuhan or surrounding areas.

Banks in mainland China have extended the Lunar New Year break for staff until February 3 after the State Council, the nation’s cabinet, extended the public holiday to help stem the spread of the outbreak.

The Shanghai stock market announced late Monday that it would resume trading on February 3 after being shut since January 23. The smaller Shenzhen exchange in southern China is expected to observe a similar suspension, according to a person familiar with the matter.

By William Zheng, Additional reporting by Chad Bray and Agencies @ SCMP