A US cruise ship hit by coronavirus was given permission late Saturday to dock, while New York announced a state of emergency as confirmed cases across the country surged past 400.

Italy has closed museums, theatres, cinemas and other entertainment venues nationwide to fight the spread of the coronavirus, said a decree signed Sunday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

China on Sunday reported 27 new deaths from coronavirus, the lowest number of fatalities in more than a month, taking the death toll to 3,097, while the COVID-19 infections for the first time fell below 50 since the disease surfaced in Hubei province in January.

A person who attended a gathering of top US political conservatives including President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus in Iran continued to rise on Saturday with 21 more people killed, including a politician who became the eighth official to succumb to the disease.

Saudi Arabia reopened Saturday the area around the sacred Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site, reversing one of a series of measures introduced to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

 Iran on Saturday reported 21 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1,076 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tolls to 145 dead and 5,823 infected.

Saudi authorities have detained three princes including King Salman's brother and nephew on charges of plotting a coup, the US media reported Friday, signalling a further consolidation of power by the kingdom's de facto ruler.