US announces economic measures after markets plunge on virus fears –as it happened
Cases spike sharply across Europe and emergency measures in place from California to Saudi Arabia. This blog is closed.
12.27am GMT
We are closing this blog now. Thanks for following along. Our new coronavirus live blog, with all the latest developments, is here.
12.24am GMT
Markets rallying after Trump promised the announcement of stimulus measures tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/1dqxMafr4B
12.15am GMT
Scott Morrison is appealing to Australians' patriotism to guide the nation through the spread of the deadly coronavirus as his government prepares to jettison its planned surplus, AAP reports.
12.10am GMT
After plunging at the open, the ASX200 has clawed back most of its losses to be down just 0.8% by 11.10am.
The monthly survey of businesses conducted by the NAB is due out at about 11.30am and could provide the market's next cue.
12.07am GMT
The travel ban for international excursions for Western Australian schools has been extended due to the spread of coronavirus across the United States.
WA Education Minister Sue Ellery said her decision to extend the ban was following advice from the Chief Health Officer.
12.05am GMT
In Australia, an additional eight cases have been confirmed in the state of New South Wales, bringing the the state's total to 55.
12.00am GMT
Hi, Helen Sullivan here. I'll be taking over the blog for the next while.
11.57pm GMT
The coronavirus crisis has edged closer to the Oval Office after it emerged that Florida congressman Mark Gaetz, who travelled with Donald Trump on Air Force One from his state to Washington on Monday, is now in self-isolation.
He took the action after it emerged that he was one of several Republican lawmakers who were exposed to a person at last month's Conservative Political Action Conference who tested positive for the virus.
So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!
Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!
11.42pm GMT
We've got more on the Australian share market from our business editor, Ben Butler, including news that while the Qantas boss was speaking, the airline's shares fell 6%:
A 3.7% fall in the Australian market this morning has been driven by tumbling airline, retail and financial stocks.
11.38pm GMT
As we reported earlier, the Australian airline Qantas has reduced its flights by a quarter in the wake of falling demand for flights.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, who earned A$24m last year, will forgo his salary for the rest of the financial year. Staff will be asked to take unpaid annual leave to avoid job cuts as the business deals with the crisis.
We are in a position where we're one of the fittest airlines in the world. We'rein a strong position to be able to come out of this and take opportunities. And this will be a survival of the fittest.
11.19pm GMT
The benchmark ASX200 index has fallen 3.7% in Sydney as another horror day begins to unfold on the financial markets.
Stand by for similar falls elsewhere in Asia Pacific as markets open on Tuesday.
11.18pm GMT
That's all from me. My colleague Martin Farrer will be taking over the blog now. Here's a summary of the most recent events:
10.53pm GMT
A Royal Bank of Canada employee working at one of the lender's suburban Toronto offices, who was earlier suspected of having contracted coronavirus, has tested positive, Reuters is reporting.
Citing a bank spokeswoman, the news agency said the employee worked in the Meadowvale office complex in Mississauga, about 25 miles west of the bank's downtown Toronto headquarters. The person has remained at home in self-isolation since late last week, the bank said.
We continue to work with Public Health in determining advice and next steps for our employees on the impacted floor.
10.53pm GMT
A patient at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel has tested positive, Barts Health NHS Trust has confirmed. A spokesman has told the Guardian that "staff in close contact with the patient have been sent home to self-isolate, as per PHE guidance".
The department of health and social care says it's unable to say whether or not the patient's included in or additional to the number of confirmed cases it released earlier today. It plans to update the figure tomorrow.
10.49pm GMT
Anyone who arrives in the UK from Italy should place themselves in isolation for two weeks, the UK government has said after their Italian counterparts extended quarantine measures to the whole country.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has said:
We have amended our travel advice to recommend against all but essential travel to Italy. The safety of British nationals is always our number one priority. The advice is that anyone who arrives from Italy subsequent to Italian government decision should now self-isolate for 14 days.
10.31pm GMT
The benchmark Australian index, the ASX200, is set to open down almost 5% after a horror day on US markets.
It is likely to be the second day running of heavy falls, following a 7.4% tumble on Monday amid growing fears the coronavirus crisis will plunge an already weak global economy into recession.
10.03pm GMT
Qantas has reduced its international flying capacity by a quarter, grounding eight Airbus A380s, and leaving just two of the largest planes in its fleet flying.
The cuts to international routes will last for six months following a "sudden and significant drop in forward travel demand". Smaller planes will now service a number of key international routes.
9.38pm GMT
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, is due to reveal some of his government's plan to protect the economy from a recession caused by the coronavirus. The stimulus package, likely to include cash payments for pensioners, welfare recipients and small business owners, could cost up to $10bn (AUD).
Morrison will argue that, while the covid-19 is a global health crisis, it will have real and significant economic impacts for Australia, potentially greater than the global financial crisis of 2008. According to preview reports of his speech, he's due to say:
The epicentre of the crisis is much closer to home. The [global financial crisis] impacts were centred on the North Atlantic and back then China was in a position to cushion the blow.
We now have one goal in 2020: To protect the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians through this global crisis, and to ensure that when the recovery comes, and it will, we are well positioned to bounce back strongly on the other side.
9.35pm GMT
Saudi Arabia has detected five new cases, Reuters is reporting; citing state TV.
Four Saudi citizens have been diagnosed - three of whom had arrived from Iran and Iraq. The fifth case is of an Egyptian man who arrived from Egypt to the kingdom, the ministry has added. They bring the total of coronavirus cases detected in the kingdom to 20.
9.32pm GMT
Burkina Faso has reported its first two cases of coronavirus, making it the sixth nation in sub-Saharan Africa to be affected by the virus.
Its health minister, Claudine Lougue, has told reporters the two patients - a husband and wife - recently returned to Burkina Faso from a trip to France and are now in isolation.
9.30pm GMT
Egypt has placed a nationwide suspension on "any large gatherings of citizens, or those that involve the movement of citizens between governorates," its prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly, has announced.
The Egyptian ministry of culture separately cancelled any upcoming events taking place, including a film festival in Luxor, the site of a major outbreak of covid-19. Egypt's ministry of health has also said 59 people have so far been infected with the virus.
8.56pm GMT
The US and UK stock markets have both suffered their worst daily slump since the 2008 financial crisis. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average has plunged by more than 2,000 points, closing down 7.8% tonight.
Earlier, Britain's FTSE 100 posted its fifth biggest fall ever. The index closed down 7.7%, which wiped 125bn off the biggest companies listed in London. Italy's FTSE MIB index slumped by 11% (and was closed before PM Conte announced the country's new lockdown).
8.51pm GMT
The announcement in Italy spells out the restriction of movement of more than 60 million people.
The decree provides for banning all public events, closing cinemas, theatres, gyms, discos and pubs, funerals, weddings and all sport events, including Serie A matches. All schools and universities will remain close until 3 April
8.46pm GMT
Conte added that he will sign the decree now and it will come into effect on Tuesday morning.
8.46pm GMT
All sporting events will be suspended, Conte has told a press conference. The country is grappling to contain Europe's worst outbreak of covid-19, which has claimed 463 lives and infected a total of 9,172 people.
8.44pm GMT
All of Italy will be placed under the lockdown conditions thus far imposed upon the so-called "red zone" in the north of the country, the Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has said.
The restrictions will include banning all public gatherings and preventing all movement other than for work and emergencies. According to the Reuters news agency, he has said the decision was necessary to protect Italy's most vulnerable citizens and that the right course of action now is for people to stay at home.
8.39pm GMT
A second Oxford University student has tested positive, the institution has said.
Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed that a student at the University of Oxford has tested positive for coronavirus. Our priority is providing support for affected students and their families, as well as offering support and information to other university staff, students, visitors and the local community. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to two.
PHE is currently assessing the individual and contacting those who had close contact with the student and will issue them with health advice about symptoms and emergency contact details to use if they become unwell in the 14 days after contact with the confirmed case. PHE will also be advising the university on any necessary next steps.
8.34pm GMT
We reported earlier that the Madrid regional government has ordered the closure of all schools and universities for a fortnight. Madrid has a population of 6.6 million and the school shutdown is expected to have a direct impact on 1.5 million people.
The president of the Madrid regional government, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said she was sorry to have to inform people of the new measures that will come into force on Wednesday but insisted they were necessary given the spread of the disease.
These decisions haven't been easy to take, but we know that public health must come before everything else.
Data indicate a turn for the worse in Spain. Yesterday, there was a significant increase in the number of cases, especially in the Madrid area.
8.20pm GMT
The Photography Show and the Video Show, which organisers claim attracts more than 30,000 visitors and which was due to start in Birmingham this weekend, has been postponed amid coronavirus concerns.
Organisers have said:
To date, the Photography Show and the Video Show has been following government guidelines regarding the continuation of our event surrounding the outbreak of coronavirus. However, as the news has been progressing we have listened to the concerns, from all parties, around the health and welfare of their staff.
The wellbeing of our visitors, exhibitors and staff is of the utmost importance, we have therefore taken the extremely difficult decision to postpone the Photography Show and the Video Show until later in the year, when we will be able to deliver the show you deserve. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.
8.16pm GMT
Iraqi authorities have ordered the closure of the Najaf province, home to holy Muslim Shi'ites sites, for non-residents starting on Wednesday for a week to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the state news agency has said. Najaf is a major destination for Shi'ite pilgrims.
8.16pm GMT
A taskforce bringing together unions, employers and government agencies should be convened to help tackle the outbreak, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said. The union body says the taskforce's main priorities would be:
Designing an emergency support package to prevent businesses from folding and workers losing jobs and pay.
Ensuring public services are kept running and public sector workers are protected from the virus.
Getting unions, employers and government agencies around the table will help contain the damage to the public health and our economy. Ministers must do all they can to protect public services, workers and businesses.
8.11pm GMT
Taiwan's Centre Epidemic Command Center has disclosed information about a Taiwanese woman who showed symptoms upon her return to Taiwan; countering multiple Egyptian government statements that she was the source of the virus in their country. Instead, they said, the woman contracted the virus during her visit to Egypt.
The woman returned to Taiwan in late February after taking a Nile cruise in the southern city of Luxor. 12 staff members on the same boat later tested positive for the virus, along with 33 passengers who arrived for a later cruise on the same ship. All 45 have been quarantined at a separate site, while other passengers on board told reporters they remain quarantined onboard.
The strain of virus from Case #39 belongs to the same clade of the strains of virus in Europe, Nigeria, Brazil and Italy. The study showed that Case #39 is only an index patient who was first diagnosed with covid-19 but not the source of infection.
It is determined that Case #39 contracted the novel coronavirus in Egypt, and developed symptoms after returning to Taiwan and that this is an imported case.
7.55pm GMT
Public health officials in Canada have recorded the country's first fatality from the coronavirus outbreak, after a man in his 80s died on Monday.
He had been a resident in a long-term care facility in the province of British Columbia, where a number of cases have been documented. The provincial health officer, Bonnie Henry, has told reporters:
He had a number of underlying health conditions, unfortunately, so (he was) in that risk group for people who were more likely to have severe disease.
7.48pm GMT
The Grand Princess cruise ship has arrived at a temporary berth in the Port of Oakland to the cheers of its weary passengers, the Reuters news agency reports.
The 2,400 holidaymakers, who have been largely confined to their rooms since Thursday, are to begin disembarking on Monday for transport to either healthcare facilities or quarantine stations, depending on whether they need immediate medical attention.
7.39pm GMT
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has cancelled his speech in the city of Mashhad for Persian new year on 20 March, to prevent further infections of coronavirus, according to his official site. The statement reads:
The ceremony for the speech of the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution, which happens every year on the first day of the new year in (Imam Reza's holy shrine) will not take place this year and the supreme leader will not travel to holy Mashhad.
7.22pm GMT
The Madrid regional government has ordered the closure of all schools and universities for a fortnight in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Spain's total confirmed cases as of 6pm CET is 1,204; 577 of which are in Madrid. The country's death toll at 28 people - 13 of them in the Madrid region.
7.20pm GMT
AFP also reports that Riester's feeling in good shape:
#Coronavirus : Franck Riester, le ministre de la Culture, testi(C) positif mais "en forme" (cabinet) pic.twitter.com/dOsOHbQGTi
7.12pm GMT
The French culture minister, Franck Riester, has tested positive for the virus, his staff have told the Agence France-Presse news agency. They said he had spent a few days at the Assembli(C)e Nationale - the lower house of the French parliament - last week, where "several cases have been confirmed".
"Le ministre a i(C)ti(C) testi(C) positivement aujourd'hui" apris avoir manifesti(C) des "symptimes", a pri(C)cisi(C) son cabinet i l'#AFP, notant que @franckriester avait passi(C) plusieurs jours la semaine derniire i l'Assembli(C)e nationale oi^1 plusieurs cas ont i(C)ti(C) confirmi(C)s.
7.03pm GMT
Here is a round-up of some of the day's main coronavirus developments:
7.00pm GMT
Romania has announced that all schools and kindergartens will be closed from 11-22 March, with the option of extending the period further.
"Our concern is to prevent children from any risk of contamination that may arise during courses organised at school," the prime minister, Ludovic Orban, said on Monday evening. Companies and institutions will be required to allow employees to work from home, where possible.
There have been 17 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, of which five people have been discharged from hospital. There have been no fatalities related to the virus.
Romania has suspended all flights to and from Italy until at least 23 March. There is a large Romanian community in the country.
6.58pm GMT
The Grand Princess cruise ship is expected to dock in Oakland at about noon PST. The vessel's 3,500 passengers, 21 of whom have tested positive for Covid-19, are to remain under 14-day quarantine.
LIVE: Grand Princess cruise ship set to dock in Oakland port amid coronavirus outbreak. https://t.co/YOjY5fZpDx
Here comes the Grand Princess cruise ship through the Golden Gate.
Blessings on all these people. May they be treated humanely, with love and compassion. pic.twitter.com/Ru8WDGYj6M
Related: Cruise ship carrying at least 21 with coronavirus prepares to dock in Oakland
6.49pm GMT
While coronavirus deaths increase day after day in Italy, good news has emerged from the hospital in Pavia where Mattia, the Italian patient 1, has been treated since 21 February, is breathing autonomously and has been discharged from intensive care.
A medical taskforce worked for weeks, day and night, to keep him alive. The man, 38, was the first Italian patient infected with the virus. To many, his recovery has inspired optimism that the battle against Covid-19 can be won.
6.46pm GMT
The Irish government has allocated a3bn (2.6bn) to deal with coronavirus in anticipation of a surge in cases.
The package includes a435m for the Health Service Executive, which runs hospitals, and a promise of a305 per week in sick pay for those affected by the virus, starting from their first day of illness. The self-employed will be eligible for payments.
A package of reforms was agreed for sick pay, illness benefit and supplementary benefit that is designed to ensure that employees and the self-employed can abide by medical advice to self-isolate where appropriate. #COVID19 #Coronavirusireland pic.twitter.com/EDDNFKEtCN
6.23pm GMT
US authorities are planning a flight tomorrow to repatriate Britons on the coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship.
The UK Foreign Office issued the following statement:
We continue to work closely with the US authorities to repatriate British nationals on board the Grand Princess. The US are currently planning for a flight to leave tomorrow evening, returning to the UK on Wednesday afternoon. We remain in contact with all British nationals on board and will continue to offer support.
6.22pm GMT
Chinese authorities reportedly scrambled to move people out of quarantine hotels, which need safety inspections after the deaths of at least 10 people in a collapsed hotel.
Joanna Davison, an English teacher, and her partner were suddenly placed in enforced isolation in Shenzhen after a ferry trip about 10 days ago. On Thursday, she told the Guardian she endured a "terrifying" experience as five people in hazmat suits came to test them at her home before they were whisked to quarantine.
6.09pm GMT
Iraq has banned all public gatherings and called on citizens to avoid visiting sacred cities and sites to stop the spread of the virus.
Authorities also called on Iraqis arriving from Iran, China, South Korea, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Kuwait and Bahrain to stay at home for self-quarantine for 14 days.
6.02pm GMT
Israel will force anyone arriving in the country, from any part of the world, to self-isolate for at least 14 days, The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced. The government has so far imposed some of the most stringent rules globally to block the spread of the virus.
The move has also been interpreted domestically as a measure to avoid irking the country's close ally and benefactor in Washington, Donald Trump. Israel already requires travellers arriving from more than a dozen countries to spend two weeks in home isolation, in effect killing off incoming tourism.
After outbreaks in the US, pressure had been building to add the country to the list. But rather than extending the rules specifically on US travellers, and risk an angry backlash from the White House, Israel broadened its policy out to the entire planet.
Netanyahu spoke to the US vice president, Mike Pence, on Sunday, after Israeli media reported the country was considering barring visitors from parts of the US, such as New York and California.
Health authorities have said the number of coronavirus cases in Israel jumped from 25 to 39 over the weekend. Approximately 80,000 Israelis are in self-isolation.
5.59pm GMT
Here are the main points from the press conference held by Boris Johnson. He was joined by Prof Chris Whitty, the government's chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser.
We are now very close to the time, probably within the next 10-14 days, when the modelling would imply we should move to a situation where everybody with even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever should be self-isolating for a period of seven days.
It is absolutely critical in managing the spread of this virus that we take the right decisions at the right time based on the latest and the best evidence, so we mustn't do things which have no or limited medical benefit, nor things which could turn out actually to be counter-productive.
We were all given an instruction not to shake hands, and there's a good reason for not shaking hands, which is that the behavioural psychologists say that if you don't shake somebody's hand then that sends an important message to them about the importance of washing your hands.
So there's a subliminal cue there to everybody to wash your hands, which is, I think I'm right in saying " far more important.
What you can't do is suppress this thing completely, and what you shouldn't do is suppress it completely because all that happens then is it pops up again later in the year, when the NHS is at a more vulnerable stage in the winter, and you end up with another problem.
5.58pm GMT
A fifth patient in the UK has died after testing positive for coronavirus, NHS England has confirmed.
In a statement on behalf of Epsom and St Helier University hospitals NHS trust, the chief executive, Daniel Elkeles, said:
We can confirm that sadly a patient in their 70s, who was very unwell with a number of significant and long-term health conditions, has passed away at St Helier hospital. They had tested positive for Covid-19.
Our thoughts and condolences remain with the patient's family and loved ones at this difficult time.
5.58pm GMT
In the past 24 hours the number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy has risen from 366 to 463, officials have announced.
They said 7,985 people were infected - 1,598 more than Sunday. The total number of cases is 9,172; 724 have recovered from the illness.
5.50pm GMT
The UK government has announced it will work with local authorities to extend the hours that deliveries can be made to supermarkets and other food retailers to help the industry respond to the coronavirus.
The new measures would mean firms can increase the frequency of deliveries to their stores and move stocks more quickly from warehouses across the country to replenish their shelves.
5.46pm GMT
Drive-through coronavirus testing is under way in a hospital car park in Seattle, NPR reports.
Employees at the University of Washington's UW Medicine Center can get checked for the virus without leaving their cars if they have symptoms.
A Seattle hospital has turned its garage into a drive-through clinic that can test health care workers for coronavirus every five minutes.
It plans to extend in-car testing to first-responders who may have been exposed. https://t.co/lPfsxw7Vp8
5.38pm GMT
In a briefing this afternoon, Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, gave the latest US coronavirus figures:
As of Sunday evening, 34 states, plus New York City and DC, have reported more than 500 cases of Covid-9 to CDC. We've also received reports of 19 deaths. Nearly half of reported cases are in California and Washington; 18 of the deaths are in Washington. The remaining one is in California.
If you do end up in the role of helping to care for a family member or friend who is at greater risk, we recommend you familiarise yourself with your loved one's medications to help them get extra to have on hand. Help them also get food medical supplies and other necessities, so they can minimise trips to the store. And create a plan for if they do get sick, and if you get sick. You may need to identify backups, who can take care of them if you can't.
5.29pm GMT
Residents recount to the Guardian's Jon Henley and Lorenzo Tondo what it feels like to be in Milan, Italy's financial and economic capital, during lockdown:
Erika, 30:
Personally, this situation has been scary for several weeks - although many have not felt it that way, probably aggravating the situation. The city felt surrounded by a feeling of unease and fear - fear not born from the limitation of movement, but from the awareness that the intensive care units are collapsing.
For the past two weeks, my husband and I have been living with the awareness that precautions must be taken. We use gloves and masks to go out, especially to go to the market or to the pharmacy. I have often regretted seeing that so few of us took these precautions, despite not having any symptoms. Just care.
It's like a ghost town. Everything's basically shut, even the malls - only the supermarkets are open. You just have to ask yourself: do you really need to go out, and for what reason. If it's to buy food, you go - but you keep your distance from everyone, as instructed. It helps that some supermarkets are allowing only small groups of shoppers to enter at a time.
It feels like the month of August. Worse - empty. It's really drastic. Like being in prison. In fact, there are prison sentences, up to three months for people who don't respect the orders. I work for a big company so there's been no problem working at home, but I worry that people won't take these measures as seriously as they should. It's not a good situation, and it's going to happen elsewhere "
5.24pm GMT
Ryanair has announced it will suspend all domestic flights to red zones in Italy - from and to the airports of Bergamo, Milano Malpensa, Parma e Treviso. The suspension will start from midnight until 8 April.
5.20pm GMT
Pregnant women do not appear to be more susceptible to the consequences of coronavirus than the general population, and there is no evidence the virus can pass to a foetus during pregnancy, according to national guidance published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
The guidance says that, as a precautionary approach, pregnant women with suspected or confirmed coronavirus when they go into labour are being advised to attend an obstetric unit but their birth plan should be followed as closely as possible.
5.18pm GMT
At the press conference Boris Johnson says he is no longer shaking hands. At his press conference last week, he said he was still shaking hands with people.
5.14pm GMT
When asked during his press conference about panic buying, Boris Johnson urges anyone thinking of stockpiling to "behave responsibly" and think of others.
5.06pm GMT
Back in Geneva, Dr Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's health emergencies programme, says the real tragedy and moral dilemma that healthcare workers will face in coming days if they do not have personal protective equipment is whether to treat a Covid-19 patient in front of them.
He says:
We're still very much in the up cycle of this epidemic.
In many countries it will get worse before it gets better.
We can see light at the end of the tunnel but how quickly we get there will depend on what countries do.
5.05pm GMT
At the press conference in Downing Street, Prof Chris Whitty, the government's chief medical adviser, has been speaking.
5.00pm GMT
At the press conference in London, Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, says it is important to introduce measures to delay the spread of coronavirus "at the right time in the right combinations".
4.56pm GMT
Boris Johnson has just started giving a press conference in London about coronavirus. Earlier today he chaired a meeting of Cobra, the UK government's emergency committee to discuss the outbreak.
4.50pm GMT
More than 58,600 people have recovered in China, says Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO's health emergencies programme. She estimates that more than 80% globally will recover.
In China, 80% of cases have been mild or moderate. Mild can include a mild form or pneumonia, says Van Kerkhove. Diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disease are among the risk factors for death.
4.37pm GMT
Asked about use/or lack of of the word "pandemic", Dr Michael Ryan, from the WHO, says countries such as Singapore and China have "demonstrated real success in turning the disease around".
Tedros adds:
Whether it's a pandemic or not, the rule of the game is the same: never give up.
Our most exposed workers to this virus at the moment are frontline healthcare workers.
It's difficult to build a global picture in real time when you're not receiving real-time data from everyone.
4.28pm GMT
Tedros says only a handful of countries have signs of sustained community transmission.
We must all take heart from that. Of the four countries with the most cases, China is bringing its outbreak under control and there is also a decline in new cases in South Korea. The rule of the game is never give up.
Let hope be the antidote to fear. Let solidarity be the antidote to blame.
4.23pm GMT
The World Health Organization is currently giving a press conference (you can watch the live feed at the top of this page).
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general, says the world "is not at the mercy" of the virus. He says with decisive, early action the spread of the virus can be slowed.
4.06pm GMT
Here are the main points from Matt Hancock's response to the urgent question on coronavirus in the House of Commons just now:
The scientific advice is clear: acting too early creates its own risk. So we will do what is right to keep people safe. Guided by the science, we will act at the right time.
4.04pm GMT
More than 111,600 people have been infected by coronavirus across the world, and 3,884 have died, according to the latest Reuters tally.
Here is our video explainer featuring the Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, on what we can do to protect ourselves.
3.59pm GMT
Madonna has cancelled shows in Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday due to restrictions imposed over the coronavirus outbreak, the promoter Live Nation has told Reuters.
On Sunday France banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people as the death toll and number of coronavirus infections continued to rise.
3.55pm GMT
The Guardian's film editor, Catherine Shoard, reports that the organisers of the Cannes film festival continue to plan for the event to go ahead, despite France's ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people.
Related: Cannes: 'Nothing has changed' despite new ban on gatherings of over 1,000
3.49pm GMT
Germany has reported its first two confirmed coronavirus deaths.
A spokesman for the health ministry in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia said an 89 year-old woman had died in the town of Essen and another patient had died in the highly affected region of Heinsberg.
3.39pm GMT
The Irish government has decided to cancel the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, after advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team, according to the Press Association news agency.
3.34pm GMT
Another patient in the UK has died after contracting the coronavirus, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has confirmed.
A Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust spokesperson said:
The trust can confirm that a patient in their 70s being treated for underlying health conditions has died. The patient had tested positive for Covid-19.
The family has been informed and our condolences and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
3.32pm GMT
The head of the port authority of New York and New Jersey has tested positive for coronavirus, the governor of New York has announced.
NEWS: Rick Cotton, head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs NY's airports, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, @NYGovCuomo announced.
UPDATE: There are additional confirmed cases of #Coronavirus in NYS, bringing total to 142.
Westchester: 98
NYC: 19
Nassau: 17
Rockland: 4
Saratoga: 2
Suffolk: 1
Ulster: 1
We continue to expect more positive cases as we test.
3.30pm GMT
Following an emergency meeting of the party leaders, the European parliament will sit for only one day this week, on Tuesday, and there will not be any votes as the chamber does not have the facility for its members to vote remotely.
3.20pm GMT
In the UK, the commissions of the House of Commons and the House of Lords have confirmed there are no plans to suspend parliament because of coronavirus.
A joint statement said: "The commissions of both houses met today to discuss parliament's response to coronavirus. "There are no plans to suspend parliament.
3.17pm GMT
A priest in the Washington DC area has tested positive for coronavirus, according to local media.
Worshippers who visited Christ church Georgetown last week have been instructed to self-isolate and the church has suspended all activities.
BREAKING: A D.C. priest has Coronavirus. He offered communion and shook hands with more than 500 worshippers last week and on February 24th. All worshippers who visited the Christ Church in Georgetown must self-quarantine. Church is cancelled for the first time since the 1800's
3.12pm GMT
In Brussels, the first case of coronavirus has been diagnosed among staff at the European commission. The woman had returned from Italy and has been in quarantine since last week. She is the third official or diplomat working within the EU's institutions in the city to be diagnosed.
2.50pm GMT
In Germany, where 1,153 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed by 2pm local time, the health minister, Jens Spahn, has appealed to citizens to travel as little as they can, to work from home when possible, and to contact doctors by telephone in cases where the virus is suspected.
In a press conference held this afternoon with a leading virologist from Chariti(C) University teaching hospital in Berlin, as well as the director of the Robert Koch Institute, the leading body on public health, Spahn advised people to avoid public transport and to "go by bike or foot" where possible, adding that the main goal was to slow the spread of the virus to avoid overburdening the health service, which has a total of 28,000 emergency beds.
2.45pm GMT
All St Patrick's Day parades in Ireland are expected to be cancelled in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Irish Times is reporting.
Cork was the first Irish city to cancel its parade, with Dublin and others to follow.
Update on Cork City's St Patrick's Day Paradeai
Following a meeting this morning between Lord Mayor Cllr John Sheehan and Chief Executive, Ann Doherty, a decision was made to cancel this year's parade
a^1i For more info please visit: https://t.co/8J0AfIIYMO#COVID19ireland pic.twitter.com/5jeVEbPoCP
2.37pm GMT
Here is an update on the situation in Luxor.
Egypt's ministry of tourism and state information service has announced that tour sites remain open in Luxor, despite an earlier statement from the national Tour Guide Association that trips would be cancelled today owing to concerns about coronavirus.
2.23pm GMT
Manchester airport's Terminal 3 seems a lot quieter than usual. It was home to Flybe, which collapsed last week, so that is perhaps one of the reasons why.
There are posters instructing people to self-isolate if they have flown in from certain parts of Italy. Terminal 3 also seems to be where most of the inbound and outbound Italian flights are.
2.16pm GMT
A total of 23 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland, up from 18 on Sunday, as the first minister warned of a "significant outbreak" across the UK.
Nicola Sturgeon told a press briefing on Monday afternoon that none of the Scottish patients were significantly unwell, and that Scotland may be a few days "behind the current", compared with some parts of the UK.
2.07pm GMT
A maintenance worker at Disneyland Paris has tested positive for coronavirus, but the theme park remains open in line with current official guidance about public gatherings, Press Association has reported.
2.04pm GMT
A total of 319 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, up from 273 on Sunday, the Department of Health has said.
A total of 24,960 people have been tested with 24,641 negative results. Three patients have died after testing positive for the illness.
1.59pm GMT
Our Brussels bureau chief, Daniel Boffey, reports that the EU's heads of state and government will hold a video conference on Tuesday to discuss the implications of coronavirus.
The leaders will discuss sanitary, scientific and economic cooperation. The president of the European council, Charles Michel, tweeted: "Following consultations, I will hold a EUCO members conference call shortly on Covid-19 to coordinate EU efforts. We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens."
Following consultations I will hold a #EUCO members conference call shortly on #COVID-19 to coordinate #EU efforts.
We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens.
1.54pm GMT
Over in New York, stock market trading was briefly suspended after coronavirus fears triggered a wave of selling.
The S&P 500 index plunged by 7% at the Wall Street open, which triggered automatic circuit-breakers to let investors catch their breath.
1.50pm GMT
With cases of coronavirus jumping from 45 to 73 in less than 48 hours in Greece, health authorities have announced further precautionary measures to be enforced with immediate effect.
The measures, which include a two-week ban on sporting events, came as Greece's Olympic Committee announced that for the first time since 1984 this week's flame-lighting ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 games will be held without spectators.
1.45pm GMT
A body representing thousands of hospital doctors has postponed its annual conference so they can help the NHS's efforts to tackle the virus, amid fears that services could become overwhelmed.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) announced it was putting off its Medicine 2020 gathering from April to next January "so that doctors can concentrate on looking after patients with Covid-19 and avoid putting themselves at any increased risk from the virus. [The] move " signals the RCP's concern to protect the NHS frontline workforce as best it can".
Our aim is always to protect people's health, and it simply wouldn't be sensible to bring together hundreds of doctors from all over the UK, - and other countries too - when they are already stretched dealing with Covid-19 on top of all the other pressures on the NHS.
We shouldn't put doctors at unnecessary risk of contracting or spreading the virus, so it is a wise precaution to postpone Medicine 2020. Now, as always, I want to protect the wellbeing of the NHS workforce.
1.34pm GMT
Here is a summary of today's lobby briefing, as reported by our political correspondents Andrew Sparrow and Rowena Mason. It was not a full briefing on Cobra as the meeting was ongoing, but here are the latest updates.
The prime minister's spokesman said:
1.19pm GMT
As the number of coronavirus cases in Italy soars, Italians seem to be following the official instructions to keep at least one metre apart in public spaces. So reports the Wall Street Journal's Milan correspondent:
Here in #Milan on Monday people are definitely taking new measures more seriously. Here 2 people meeting at bar while keeping 1-meter apart as ordered. #COVID2019 #MilanDiary - Day 2 pic.twitter.com/yTEl8Wer1Q
1.13pm GMT
More details have been released about the six inmates who died while protesting against virus containment measures at a northern Italian prison.
The deaths occurred after prisoners broke into the infirmary and took overdoses, Associated Press reports. The protest in Modena was among the first of more than two dozen riots at Italy's overcrowded prisons.
12.55pm GMT
The Guardian has produced an interactive photo gallery that shows tourist sites in Asia before and after the coronavirus crisis.
The World Tourism Organization has said the number of international arrivals is expected to drop sharply this year, reversing a previous forecast of a substantial increase. Arrivals are now projected to fall by 1-3%, instead of the previous estimate of 3-4% growth, with losses of $30-$50bn (23bn-38bn) in international tourism receipts anticipated.
Related: Tourist sites in Asia hit by coronavirus fears - before and after
12.44pm GMT
A member of staff at Transport for London has tested positive for coronavirus. A spokeswoman said:
We are working closely with Public Health England and are following their advice after a member of staff tested positive for Covid-19.
The safety of our staff and customers is our top priority, so we are taking all necessary precautions and a deep clean has taken place within the building used by the staff member.
12.38pm GMT
The party leaders of the European parliament are to hold an emergency meeting this afternoon on whether to cancel this week's session in light of the growing incidents of coronavirus infection in Brussels, reports the Guardian's Daniel Boffey. There were 39 new recorded cases of infection confirmed in Belgium on Monday, including a handful of cases among staff working within the EU's institutions.
12.23pm GMT
The tour guides association in Luxor, southern Egypt, has told its members that trips have been cancelled for the day, including big archeological sites, hot air balloon rides and a film festival.
According to one guide, who spoke to the journalist Ruth Michaelson, the lockdown is being enforced by local police, with tourists shut in their cabins on cruise ships or inside hotel rooms. "The tourists are OK, they're happy to be checked," said the guide, who could not be named as they were not permitted to talk to the media.
12.07pm GMT
The first case of Covid-19 has been confirmed on Lesbos, prompting concerns it could spread to refugee camps, reports the journalist Katy Fallon from the island.
This morning, a hospital in Mytilene said the woman, who was admitted on Sunday morning, had been diagnosed with the virus. She had reportedly experienced flu-like symptoms in recent days and, according to local news reports, had returned to the area about a month ago after a trip to Israel.
11.58am GMT
The Irish Times is reporting that the France-Ireland rugby match, which was scheduled to conclude the Six Nations tournament in the Stade de France next Saturday, will be postponed.
Coronavirus: Ireland-France Six Nations match to be postponed until October
via @IrishTimeshttps://t.co/aXRMYYTZ5L
11.41am GMT
Six prisoners have died in Modena, Italy, after a riot erupted when inmates were informed that the new emergency decree includes restrictions on face-to-face visits with relatives.
Lorenzo Tondo, the Guardian's southern Italy correspondent, reports that similar clashes also broke out in prisons in Salerno, Naples, Alessandria, Vercelli, Bari, Palermo, Foggia and Frosinone. Prisoners in several facilities set fire to mattresses, and two guards were held hostage briefly in Pavia.
11.19am GMT
Iranian state television has confirmed 595 new coronavirus cases in the past day including 43 deaths. The new totals are now: 7,161 total infections and 237 deaths, with 2,394 confirmed recoveries.
11.15am GMT
A reminder of this morning's dramatic events in the financial markets -
Related: FTSE on course for biggest fall since financial crisis
11.07am GMT
The government was scheduled to hold a Cobra meeting at 11am. The Guardian's defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, has this explainer of how exactly such meetings work.
Cobra meetings are held in the basement of the Cabinet Office, not far underground from the Cabinet War Rooms, and represent the crown jewel of Britain's emergency planning system.
10.53am GMT
The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said the coronavirus is a having a "vast impact" on Europe's economy during a press conference in Brussels to mark the first 100 days of her tenure leading the EU's executive branch. She said:
The spread of the virus has a vast impact on people's lives but it also has a vast impact on our economy. We are looking into everything that we can do to help to address the impacts on the economy.
10.50am GMT
More than 100 Britons stuck on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship off the coast of California will soon be allowed to leave, Press Association has reported.
Passengers will disembark the Grand Princess from Monday, a process the liner's operator said would take a number of days. Britons onboard have described feeling tired and "fed up", having been confined to their cabins since Thursday. See my earlier post here for background.
10.38am GMT
The government has said it is working to secure a repatriation flight for Britons stuck on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship.
There are thought to be more than 140 British nationals onboard the Grand Princess, which is currently off the coast of California. 21 people onboard have tested positive for Covid-19.
We are working intensively with the US authorities on arrangements for a flight for British nationals who are currently on the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California. We are in contact with all British nationals on board to offer assistance, as well as local authorities and staff on board the ship.
10.27am GMT
Albania has announced measures to tackle a potential outbreak of Covid-19 after confirming its first two cases of coronavirus, reports Helena Smith, the Guardian's correspondent in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.
Speaking to the media this morning, the prime minister, Edi Rama, said all schools, as of today, would be closed for the next two weeks and flights to northern Italy cancelled until at least 3 April.
10.19am GMT
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has written to the EU commission calling for an end to "use-it-or-lose-it" rules, which he said could lead to some airlines running "ghost" services to ensure they do not have their flight slots taken from them.
The "80:20" rule - which means airlines must use 80% of their allocation - has already been eased on flights to and from Hong Kong and mainland China, and Shapps said such measures should be widened to cover other flights in and out of Europe.
Today I've written to the EU Commission urging an end to the "use-it-or-lose-it" rule that's leading to 'ghost planes' during this COVID-19 outbreak. Temporary relief now makes both environmental and financial sense. pic.twitter.com/mWQhThAufz
10.10am GMT
Dr David Nabarro, one of the World Health Organization's six special envoys on coronavirus, has said the government is likely to be considering restrictions on religious and community gatherings to help delay the spread of the disease. The PA news agency reports that he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
We need to recognise that it is advancing and the focus now needs to move to delay. In order to do that, it is really important to try and take the heat out of transmission, and that means helping people to stay further away from each other and reduce the risk they get infected.
Very importantly, if you have symptoms that suggest you might have Covid, you absolutely must not be in contact with others. You are trying to reduce the spread. Then you look at large events. But it is not just the big events. I want to stress it is also gatherings in community halls, in religious spaces and services, and also in pubs and the like. It will be that sort of gathering that the government will look at, as well as of course the big events.
10.03am GMT
The family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national imprisoned in Iran, say she has been seen by a doctor and advised that her condition is likely to improve. They announced a week ago that they believed she had contracted coronavirus in Tehran's Evin prison, where she is serving a jail sentence for espionage, a charge she strenuously denies. The Free Nazanin campaign said in a statement on Sunday night:
[A doctor] confirmed to her that her symptoms were clearly a virus and were consistent with coronavirus but he also confessed he was unable to test her with a testing kit " The doctor, however, did reassure Nazanin that since her symptoms had stabilised it was likely a positive sign that she was hopefully soon going to start to recover.
9.49am GMT
Vietnam has suspended its visa-waiver programme for citizens from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus within its borders.
The Guardian's south-east Asia correspondent, Rebecca Ratcliffe, reports that the announcement follows confirmation of several new cases linked to a flight that arrived in Hanoi from London on 2 March. The country had gone 22 days without reporting any new infections before the new cluster of cases emerged.
9.44am GMT
University Hospital Southampton has closed its surgical high dependency unit to new admissions after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. They said in a statement:
A healthcare professional who worked a single nightshift in our surgical high dependency unit on Friday 6 March has tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19). They are now isolated at home.
The small number of patients and staff who came into close contact with this individual have been informed and will be appropriately isolated.
9.27am GMT
The former UK chancellor, George Osborne, has urged the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to use this week's budget to introduce immediate measures to help individuals and smaller companies cope with the economic shock of the coronavirus, saying he would expect the UK to see an upsurge in cases in the coming weeks.
The Guardian political correspondent Peter Walker reports that Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
I'm not an epidemiologist, but I can't help noticing that the UK cases are quite like the Italian cases were two weeks ago. And they've gone and sealed off the whole of northern Italy, and an enormous city like Milan has been closed. I'm not saying we will be there, but we could be there in the next two or three weeks. If I was chancellor I don't want some complicated scheme that's working in six months' time. I need to use the tools that are available to me right now.
I'm not sure I'd be nervous. I think this is what chancellors and the Treasury are for. They are there to deal with events, and in any period of time there's going to be things thrown at you. This is exactly why we have a well-oiled democracy and a strong government.
9.18am GMT
Reacting to the news of the third UK death from coronavirus, Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor at the University of Leeds's Institute of Medical Research, said more such announcements were likely to be made.
It is therefore critical that we do not overlook the many thousands of people in our country above retirement age, those who are living with chronic health conditions, or those with suppressed immune systems resulting from medication, infectious (eg untreated HIV) or inherited causes.
In the absence of a vaccine for the short to medium term, this population would benefit tremendously from the availability of antiviral drugs. Thus, the ongoing trials of eg remdesivir in China and elsewhere are of critical importance for the short- to medium-term management of Covid-19. Going forward, the development of bespoke antivirals to combat infections such as this virus should be prioritised.
9.03am GMT
The EU council, the Brussels institution that brings together diplomats and ministers from the member states for policy-making, said this morning it would hold only essential meetings due to coronavirus - and officials have suggested everyone avoid "handshakes and kisses".
Meanwhile, the former prime minister of Romania, Dacian CioloETM, who leads the Renew group in the European parliament, is seeking either the suspension of the chamber or a substantial reduction to its agenda. The session this week has already been moved to Brussels rather than Strasbourg because of the epidemic.
8.54am GMT
Iranian state-linked media have announced that 16 people have died from alcohol poisoning in the south-western city of Ahvaz, the latest in a wave of deaths apparently driven by the mistaken belief that alcohol is a vaccine against the coronavirus. Alcohol is banned in the country but is still illegally imported or brewed at home - the latter occasionally resulting in deaths from bad batches.
The head of Iran's crisis management authority, Ismail Najjar, is the latest official who has contracted the virus, which has infected 6,500 people according to Iran's official tally. Nearly 200 people have died, including at least 49 people over the weekend.
8.46am GMT
The German government has decided on a raft of measures to soften the blow of the corona irus on Europe's largest economy, as the number taken ill rose to 1,112 on Monday, reports the Guardian's Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly.
The measures include giving bridging loans to businesses and extending their tax payment deadlines as well as partially compensating employers who are forced to introduce reduced working hours to allow them to continue paying their employees' wages.
8.26am GMT
The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, has been speaking to BBC Breakfast before a meeting organised by his department with sporting bodies and broadcasters. Asked about holding games behind closed doors as is the case in Italy, he said:
That is an option in the future but we are clear at this point there is no need for events to be cancelled. We are very cognisant of the impact the cancelling of events may have both in terms of the economic and social impact.
Any decision will be taken on the basis of the facts and the evidence. But we are very clear - at this stage we are still in the contain phase and that means that there is no need to cancel such events, there's no need for people not to go to sporting events, to museums and so on.
8.12am GMT
The FTSE 100 leading index of shares has plunged more than 8% in early trading as investors react to the oil price war launched by Saudi Arabia overnight, which wipe