Virus toll soars in locked-down Italy as pace slows in China

Locked-down Italy on Tuesday recorded its deadliest day of the novel coronavirus outbreak, as airlines halted flights and neighbouring countries clamped down on borders of the worst-hit country outside of China.Chinese leader Xi Jinping meanwhile sought to ease concerns in the country where the virus was first detected in December, making his first visit to the epicentre of Wuhan and declaring the spread in the central city and Hubei province to be "basically curbed."Fallout from the virus has e