UPDATE 1-Israel not accepting flights from China, El Al suspends route

Israel's Health Ministry said on Thursday it will not allow flights from China to land at its airports and the country's flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines suspended flights to Beijing until March 25 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The decisions follow the lead of other carriers that have suspended or scaled back flights to China as the death toll from the spreading flu-like virus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has risen. The Health Ministry had scaled back the number of arrivals from China and issued health warnings to those arriving. It has now banned flights from China landing in the country, a ministry spokesman said.