Dubai, Feb 11 (IANS): Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have confirmed that an Indian expat has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in the country to eight.

In a statement on Monday, the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention said the Indian national was infected after he interacted with a recently diagnosed person, reports the Gulf News.

Of the eight cases, one is in intensive care, while six others were stable and one has already recovered, the Ministry added.

In India, three cases have been confirmed as of now.

In China, where the outbreak's origin is linked to a fish market in Wuhan, Hubei province, the country's National Health Commission on Tuesday raised the number of deaths to 1,016 and the number of infected people to 42,638.

To date, all but two deaths - in the Philippines and Hong Kong - have occurred in mainland China and, although about 20 countries have identified cases.

China accounts for about 99 per cent of those infected.