Thirty-four confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have been diagnosed in Canada to date, with 20 cases reported in Ontario, 13 in British Columbia and one in Quebec.

It's a welcome development, but one experts say faces significant hurdles.

The update brings mainland China's totals to 77,658 cases and 2,663 deaths.

The evacuated Americans, who are cutting short their 14-day quarantine on the Diamond Princess, will have to undergo another two-week at a U.S. military facility.

A total of 398 people evacuated by Canada from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the outbreak, are now under quarantine at the base.

China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, now has a confirmed 48,206 cases and 1,310 deaths.

Christopher Lan, a professor at the University of Ottawa, is among 213 evacuees from Wuhan who were flown in on two separate planes Friday over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

China's National Health Commission on Sunday also said total cases of the new virus have increased to to 37,198.

The number of new cases also increased to 24,324, as China moved patients into newly built or converted hospitals in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan.

Thousands of cases of a new virus have been confirmed worldwide and the efforts being made to control its spread are ramping up.