Belgium says coronavirus cases more than doubled to 109

Belgium's health ministry said on Friday that cases of coronavirus in the country had more than doubled to 109. The ministry said 441 tests had been conducted on Thursday and most of the 59 new confirmed cases were of people who had travelled to Italy.

"While most patients had recently visited Italy we also confirm contaminations in our country" the ministry said in a statement, adding the latter were mostly among family members or close contacts of people who had travelled to Italy. It said it expected the number of cases was likely to increase further.