New York, Los Angeles in lockdown; global coronavirus toll rises to 6,509

Almost 170,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 6,509 have died, with cases and deaths outside China overtaking those in the country where the outbreak began, according to a Reuters tally.

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Infections outside China have been reported by 156 countries. Mayotte, a French Indian Ocean island, and Uzbekistan reported their first cases, while Slovenia and Mexico registered their first fatalities.

An empty street in the Porta Nuova district is seen to slow the outbreak of coronavirus in Milan, Italy. Reuters

Guatemala also confirmed the Central American nation’s first death from the new coronavirus.

Chinese health authorities said on Monday they received reports of 16 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 14 deaths.

Italy recorded 368 more deaths from the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, its biggest one-day rise, amid growing concern about the ability of its strained health system to cope with the relentless increase in new cases.

While the virus has begun spreading rapidly across Europe, Italy remains the second most heavily affected country in the world after China, where the illness first emerged, and the outbreak has shown no signs of slowing.

The government is working urgently on procuring more protective equipment, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, adding there was maximum attention on helping Lombardy, the northern region where the virus emerged just over three weeks ago.

"Our priority is to keep doctors, nurses and all our health personnel safe," Conte said in a statement a week after his government imposed a virtual lockdown across the country in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

People queue in line to receive packages for precautions against coronavirus in Tehran, Iran. AFP

His government has pledged a package of measures to support businesses and families amid fears of a serious economic crisis. The measures, originally due over the weekend, are now expected after a cabinet meeting on Monday.

With 24,747 cases and 1,809 deaths by Sunday – a rise of 368 or 25% in the death toll in just 24 hours – Italy's experience has offered an alarming example for other European countries which have begun seeing sharp rises in cases over recent days.

Bars, restaurants, theatres and movie houses in New York and Los Angeles were ordered to shut down to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as central banks around the world took aggressive steps to cushion the economic impact of the disease.

Worldwide, central banks including the US Federal Reserve have made emergency rate cuts to shore up tumbling stock markets in moves similar to those taken after the 2008 financial crisis.

Boris Johnson‘s government has acceded to demands for greater transparency on the coronavirus pandemic, agreeing to hold daily press conferences after ministers told only selected journalists about their life-changing plans to order the over-70s to quarantine themselves. In Britain, 35 people have died and 1,372 have been infected.

France‘s top health official warned that it was struggling to deal with Covid-19 because “a lot of people have not understood that they need to stay at home”; the country has seen 127 deaths.

Neighbouring Spain‘s death toll more than doubled yesterday, to 288. Globally, 6,513 people have died and 169,000 have been infected.