Coronavirus is jumping borders, with at least 100 countries having now confirmed at least one case of infection.
Stock markets around the world have been savaged, millions of people quarantined, and countries are scrambling to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, implementing emergency plans and travel restrictions on the worst-affected places.
“Now that the coronavirus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real,” World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in a briefing.
The viral outbreak that began in China three months ago has infected more than 122,000 people globally and killed more than 4500 people.
RELATED: Follow the latest coronavirus updates
Bruce Aylward, the leader of a joint WHO-China mission of experts, warned countries they needed to do more to get ready for coronavirus cases.
“Think the virus is going to show up tomorrow. If you don’t think that way, you’re not going to be ready,” he said.
“This is a rapidly escalating epidemic in different places that we have got to tackle super fast to prevent a pandemic.”
CHINA
Confirmed cases: 80,921
Deaths: 3161
The epidemic is believed to have peaked in China between January 23 and February 2.
Most cases in other countries around the world have involved people who travelled from China, where the outbreak originated in the city of Wuhan.
While close to 4000 people have died from the disease in China, the WHO concluded on February 24 that the measures imposed by the Chinese government — sealing off cities, shutting down businesses and schools and ordering people to remain indoors — may have saved hundreds of thousands of people from infection.
“There’s no question that China’s bold approach to the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of what was a rapidly escalating and continues to be a deadly epidemic,” said Dr Bruce Aylward, who led the WHO delegation.
The WHO said that of about 80,000 people who have been sickened by COVID-19 in China, more than 70 per cent have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
ITALY
Confirmed cases: 12462
Deaths: 827
Outside of China, Italy is the country that’s been hit the hardest, causing the government to take drastic action in an attempt to slow the virus outbreak.
The Prime Minister announced a sweeping coronavirus quarantine that will affect about a quarter of the country’s population.
The entire Lombardy region in the country’s north, including Milan and at least 15 provinces in neighbouring regions, are now in lockdown.
Entry and exit to affected areas is forbidden, weddings and funerals banned, cinemas, gyms, pubs and museums closed. Anyone violating the new law can be arrested and fined.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte has also restricted travel nationwide.
IRAN
Confirmed cases: 9000
Deaths: 354
The worsening situation in Iran has been accompanied by concern for its top leaders after a member of the council that advises the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader died of COVID-19.
Despite civilian authorities’ calls to close them, Major Shiite shrines remain open, and the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom have had high numbers of infections.
The country’s deputy health minister tested positive for the virus, just hours after he appeared pale and sweaty in a TV press conference downplaying the crisis.
An MP from the capital Tehran, Mahmoud Sadeghi, also said he had tested positive for the virus, and according to Reuters tweeted that he didn’t “have a lot of hope of continuing life in this world”.
Officials have urged people to stay indoors, although there is no mandatory quarantine.
Iran is the only country other than China that Australians have been banned from travelling to.
SOUTH KOREA
Confirmed cases: 7755
Deaths: 61
South Korea is struggling to deal with the growing coronavirus crisis, as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.
Within a week, confirmed cases jumped from a few dozen to more than 900, with the fringe Christian group Shincheonji Church identified by authorities as the heart of the country’s outbreak.
Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the South Korean Centre for Disease Control, suggested that “there is a possibility that the characteristics of many people sitting close together in a very confined space and holding service for more than an hour” would have led to “a few who were exposed infecting other infectees”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now extended Australia’s coronavirus travel ban to South Korea. Any Australian citizens or permanent residents returning from Korea will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days when they return home.
SPAIN
Confirmed cases: 2231
Deaths: 54
GERMANY
Confirmed cases: 1908
Deaths: 3
FRANCE
Confirmed cases: 1784
Deaths: 33
JAPAN
Confirmed cases: 1277
Deaths: 16
Speculation is mounting as to whether the 2020 Olympic Games, which begin on July 24 in Tokyo, will be cancelled as a result of coronavirus.
While organisers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have all insisted cancellation is not being considered, one of the IOC’s most senior members said that the future of the Tokyo Games is largely out of the IOC’s hands and depends on the course the virus takes.
Dick Pound, the committee’s longest-serving member, estimated there is a three, possibly even two, month window to decide the fate of the games, meaning a decision could be put off until late May.
UNITED STATES
Confirmed cases: 1107
Deaths: 32
At least eight states in America have declared states of emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak as the number of deaths and infections steadily increases.
Washington, Florida, California, Kentucky, New York, Maryland, Utah and Oregon have made the declarations, and will now be able to tap into their emergency resources including the activation of reserves of emergency volunteer healthcare professionals.
Researchers said earlier that the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, where officials said a lab was testing hundreds of people each day.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned the American public to prepare for an outbreak of the disease.
“We expect we will see community spread in this country,” said CDC’s Nancy Messonnier.
“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen any more, but the rather more correct question to be asking is, ‘When this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness?’”
SWITZERLAND
Confirmed cases: 613
Deaths: 4
NORWAY
Confirmed cases: 598
NETHERLANDS
Confirmed cases: 503
Deaths: 5
SWEDEN
Confirmed cases: 500
Deaths: 1
DENMARK
Confirmed cases: 442
UK
Confirmed cases: 373
Deaths: 6
BELGIUM
Confirmed cases: 314
Deaths: 3
QATAR
Confirmed cases: 262
AUSTRIA
Confirmed cases: 206
SINGAPORE
Confirmed cases: 178
MALAYSIA
Confirmed cases: 149
AUSTRALIA
Confirmed cases: 149
Deaths: 3
Australia now has more than 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus, following its third death from the disease.
The 82-year-old man was from the same aged care facility in Sydney’s north where a 95-year-old female, who became the second Australian to die after becoming infected with coronavirus, was also a resident.
Both the man and woman lived at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge nursing home facility at Sydney’s Macquarie Park, where a 50-year-old worker was diagnosed with the virus last week, NSW Health confirmed in a statement.
Australia’s first victim, 78-year-old retired travel agent James Kwan, was diagnosed with the virus after going on the infected Diamond Princess cruise ship, and spent his final moments alone because he was quarantined.
Mr Kwan’s death came after the Australian government activated its emergency response plan for global pandemics, entitled “The COVID-19 plan”.
“The novel coronavirus outbreak represents a significant risk to Australia,” the document says. “It has the potential to cause high levels of morbidity and mortality and to disrupt our community socially and economically.”
Chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy said an outbreak in Australia was likely inevitable, stating “it’s no longer possible to absolutely prevent new cases coming in”.
HONG KONG
Confirmed cases: 120
Deaths: 3
BAHRAIN
Confirmed cases: 110
CANADA
Confirmed cases: 101
Deaths: 2
GREECE
Confirmed cases: 90
ICELAND
Confirmed cases: 85
ISRAEL
Confirmed cases: 79
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Confirmed cases: 74
KUWAIT
Confirmed cases: 72
IRAQ
Confirmed cases: 71
Deaths: 7
CZECH REPUBLIC
Confirmed cases: 63
LEBANON
Confirmed cases: 61
Deaths: 3
SAN MARINO
Confirmed cases: 60
Deaths: 2
EGYPT
Confirmed cases: 60
Deaths: 1
INDIA
Confirmed cases: 60
Deaths: 1
THAILAND
Confirmed cases: 59
Deaths: 1
FINLAND
Confirmed cases: 59
PORTUGAL
Confirmed cases: 59
SLOVENIA
Confirmed cases: 57
PHILIPPINES
Confirmed cases: 49
Deaths: 1
TAIWAN
Confirmed cases: 47
Deaths: 1
BRAZIL
Confirmed cases: 37
VIETNAM
Confirmed cases: 35
IRELAND
Confirmed cases: 34
Deaths: 1
INDONESIA
Confirmed cases: 34
Deaths: 1
ROMANIA
Confirmed cases: 32
POLAND
Confirmed cases: 27
WEST BANK & GAZA
Confirmed cases: 26
GEORGIA
Confirmed cases: 23
SAUDI ARABIA
Confirmed cases: 21
ALGERIA
Confirmed cases: 20
RUSSIA
Confirmed cases: 20
ARGENTINA
Confirmed cases: 19
Deaths: 1
PAKISTAN
Confirmed cases: 19
OMAN
Confirmed cases: 18
ECUADOR
Confirmed cases: 17
CHILE
Confirmed cases: 17
CROATIA
Confirmed cases: 16
COSTA RICA
Confirmed cases: 13
ESTONIA
Confirmed cases: 13
SOUTH AFRICA
Confirmed cases: 13
ALBANIA
Confirmed cases: 12
HUNGARY
Confirmed cases: 12
SERBIA
Confirmed cases: 12
AZERBAIJAN
Confirmed cases: 11
PERU
Confirmed cases: 11
MACAU
Confirmed cases: 10
SLOVAKIA
Confirmed cases: 10
LATVIA
Confirmed cases: 10
BELARUS
Confirmed cases:9
COLOMBIA
Confirmed cases: 9
PANAMA
Confirmed cases: 8
MALDIVES
Confirmed cases: 8
AFGHANISTAN
Confirmed cases: 7
MEXICO
Confirmed cases: 7
LUXEMBOURG
Confirmed cases: 7
NORTH MACEDONIA
Confirmed cases: 7
TUNISIA
Confirmed cases: 7
BULGARIA
Confirmed cases: 6
BRUNEI
Confirmed cases: 6
MALTA
Confirmed cases: 6
CYPRUS
Confirmed cases: 6
MOROCCO
Confirmed cases: 5
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Confirmed cases: 5
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Confirmed cases: 5
NEW ZEALAND
Confirmed cases: 5
PARAGUAY
Confirmed cases: 5
SENEGAL
Confirmed cases: 4
BANGLADESH
Confirmed cases: 3
CAMBODIA
Confirmed cases: 3
LITHUANIA
Confirmed cases: 3
MOLDOVA
Confirmed cases: 3
BURKINA FASO
Confirmed cases: 2
BOLIVIA
Confirmed cases: 2
CAMEROON
Confirmed cases: 2
FAROE ISLANDS
Confirmed cases: 2
HONDURUS
Confirmed cases: 2
SRI LANKA
Confirmed cases: 2
NIGERIA
Confirmed cases: 2
ARMENIA
Confirmed cases: 1
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Confirmed cases: 1
BHUTAN
Confirmed cases: 1
JAMAICA
Confirmed cases: 1
JORDAN
Confirmed cases: 1
MONACO
Confirmed cases: 1
MONGOLIA
Confirmed cases: 1
NEPAL
Confirmed cases: 1
TOGO
Confirmed cases: 1
TURKEY
Confirmed cases: 1
UKRAINE
Confirmed cases: 1
VATICAN CITY
Confirmed cases: 1
ANDORRA
Confirmed cases: 1
GIBRALTAR
Confirmed cases: 1
LICHTENSTEIN
Confirmed cases: 1