Coronavirus: cases pass 66,000 as Beijing orders 14-day quarantine for returnees

Covid-19 cases pass 66,000 in China as residents in capital who flout new restrictions told they will be 'held accountable under the law'

Beijing has ordered people returning to the city from holidays to quarantine themselves for 14 days to try to contain the coronavirus spread, as the death toll in China from the outbreak passed 1,500.

On Saturday, the country's National Health Commission said 2,641 new cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed infections across mainland China to 66,492. There were also 143 deaths in the 24 hours to midnight on Friday, taking total fatalities from the virus to 1,523.