Contagion - the spread of coronavirus around the world

US President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency over the fast-spreading coronavirus to free up US$50 billion in federal aid to combat a disease that has infected over 138,000 people worldwide and left more than 5,000 dead.

For interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus, click here.

Deaths/infections

• More than 138,000 people have been infected globally and over 5,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.
  
  
• The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported just five new cases on Friday, the second day in a row the tally has been less than 10. That brings the total number of infections in mainland China to 80,813. The death toll is more than 3,000.

Europe

• British cases of coronavirus rose 35% to 798 over the past 24 hours. There have been 10 deaths so far.
  
  
• Major Spanish regions shut shops, bars and restaurants and Easter parades were cancelled as Spain prepared to enter a 15-day state of emergency on Friday. The number of infections rose to 4,231, up about 1,000 cases from Thursday. About 120 people have died.
  
  
• Russia, which has so far recorded 45 cases, will limit passenger flights to and from the European Union, Switzerland and Norway, starting March 16.
  
  
• Greece reported its first fatality, a 66-year-old man who had returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt at the end of February.
  
  
• The death toll from coronavirus in Italy has jumped in the last 24 hours by 250 to 1,266, a rise of 25%. The total number of infections rose to 17,660.
  
  
• The number of confirmed cases in Germany has risen by 671 to reach 3,062, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Friday. It said five people had died after testing positive for the virus.
  
  
• A second patient has been diagnosed with coronavirus in Turkey, its health minister said on Friday.
  
  
• The Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously on Friday to declare a state of emergency until April 13 as the number of confirmed cases in the country more than tripled to 23.

Americas

• US President Donald Trump said on Friday morning that coronavirus testing in the United States will soon be carried out on a large scale.
  
  
• Mexico could consider measures at its northern border to slow the spread of the coronavirus into its relatively unaffected territory. It has confirmed 16 cases, with no deaths.

Asia

• Kazakhstan confirmed first coronavirus cases.
  
  
• South Korea reported more recoveries than new infections on Friday for the first time since its outbreak emerged in January. The country recorded 110 new cases, compared with 114 a day earlier, taking the national tally to 7,979, with the death toll rising by five to 72 as of late Friday.
  
  
• India, with 82 confirmed cases and two deaths, ordered the closure of public buildings, malls, cinemas and bars in several major cities on Friday.
  
  
• An 80-year-old man became the fourth patient in Hong Kong to die from coronavirus. The country has so far confirmed around 130 coronavirus cases.
  
  
• Thailand reported five new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 75.

Middle East and Africa

• Kenya confirmed East Africa’s first case of coronavirus, a woman who had returned to the capital Nairobi from the United States.
  
  
• Ethiopia has confirmed its first case.
  
  
• Saudi Arabia detected 24 new cases, 14 of whom were Egyptians. This brings the total in the kingdom to 86.
  
  
• In Iran the total number of deaths from the outbreak has risen by 85 to 514, a Health Ministry official said on state TV on Friday, while total infections had increased by more than 1,000 in the past 24 hours to 11,364.

Australia

• One of Australia’s highest-profile ministers, Peter Dutton, who is in charge of home affairs, said he had tested positive for coronavirus on Friday. The country has recorded 156 infections and three deaths.

Economic fallout

• Switzerland will make 10 billion Swiss francs (US$10.52 billion) available in immediate aid to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
  
  
• The Indonesian government has prepared a 120-trillion-rupiah (US$8.1 billion) stimulus package to support its economy as the spread of coronavirus disrupts global activities.
  
  
• Japan’s government is expected to cut its assessment of the economy in a monthly report due later this month.
  
  
• Norway’s central bank said on Friday it had offered the first in a series of extraordinary loans to the banking industry, along with a surprise half-point cut in its key policy interest rate.
  
  
• France will help all companies in which the French state has a stake to weather the coronavirus crisis, its finance minister said on Friday, putting the growing cost of measures to soften the economic fallout at “dozens of billions”.
  
  
• Germany’s KfW state development bank has roughly half a trillion euros in support available to help support Europe’s largest economy, which risks being stricken by the coronavirus epidemic, the Economy Minister said on Friday.
  
  
• Sweden’s central bank said on Friday it would lend up to 500 billion crowns (US$51 billion) to Swedish companies via banks
  
  
• China’s central bank cut the cash that banks must hold as reserves on Friday for the second time this year, releasing 550 billion yuan (US$79 billion) to help its coronavirus-hit economy.
  
  
• Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered his government on Friday to allocate 300 billion tenge (US$740 million) towards measures to boost employment through infrastructure maintenance projects.

Markets

• A gauge of stocks across the globe bounced back on Friday led by a late rally on Wall Street, after US President Donald Trump freed US$50 billion to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Events cancelled, postponed, pared back

• Top Japanese government officials said they were determined to hold a “safe and secure” Olympics on schedule, a day after US President Donald Trump said Tokyo should consider delaying them for a year because of the pandemic.
  
  
• Walt Disney Co will close its theme parks in California and Florida and its resort in Paris from this weekend through the end of the month, the company said on Thursday.
  
  
• The impact of the coronavirus on sport swept into the southern hemisphere, with the cancellation of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix adding to an unprecedented shutdown of elite events and competitions around the globe.
  
  
• The World Trade Organization’s major biennial meeting, due to be held in Kazakhstan in June, was cancelled, setting back its efforts to update the global rules of commerce.
  
  
• Bob Dylan’s upcoming concerts in Japan have been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak, the tour organiser said.
  
  
• India ordered upcoming international cricket matches to be played in empty stadiums.
  
  
• The World Endurance Championship has cancelled the Sebring 1,000 Miles race in Florida.
  
  
• Nepal has closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest this climbing season because of fears of coronavirus contagion.
  
  
• France’s rugby federation said on Friday it was suspending all its competitions due to the coronavirus outbreak.
  
  
• All elite soccer matches in England, including the Premier League, were suspended until April 4 on Friday due to the coronavirus, English soccer’s governing bodies said in a joint statement.

- Reuters