MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2020) The number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases outside China keeps growing, with almost nine times more cases reported outside China than inside the country over the past 24 hours, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, who said on Monday that a total of 8,739 new cases from 61 countries, with 127 deaths, had been registered. Meanwhile, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has increased the risk level of infection with the novel coronavirus in the European Union from low-moderate to moderate-high, as the number of cases in the bloc has reached 2,100.
The first cases of the COVID-19 have been registered in Andorra, Jordan, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Tunisia, Senegal, Portugal and Latvia.
The COVID-19 death toll in Italy � which is the largest coronavirus epicenter outside Asia � has reached 52, while the total number of those infected has surged to 2,036. The first novel coronavirus case has been confirmed in the Italian capital of Rome.
The first COVID-19 case has been confirmed in the state of New York. Meanwhile, the United States' total death toll has reached five.
The first COVID-19 case has been confirmed in the Russian capital, as a Russian national, who returned from Italy to Moscow last month, has tested positive. Twenty-four people have been hospitalized and 83 more have been placed under quarantine after contacts with the infected young man, including his relatives, friends, acquaintances and passengers who were on the same flight.
Apart from that, a passenger of Russian flag carrier Aeroflot's Moscow-Beijing flight has been confirmed to have the novel coronavirus. The infected person is a foreigner who returned to the Chinese capital from Iran late last month.
Forty-two people have died from COVID-19 in mainland China, where the virus originates, over the past 24 hours, while over 2,800 people have been discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered individuals to 44,462, according to the country's National Health Commission.
Meanwhile, South Korea has registered 476 new COVID-19 cases, which means that the total number of those infected has reached 4,212. The death toll from the epidemic has reached 22. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has expressed the belief that it is still possible to contain the deadly virus.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iran has surpassed 1,500, with 66 fatalities. Meanwhile, 291 people have been discharged from hospitals upon recovering. A team of WHO experts has arrived in the country, providing laboratory kits sufficient to test and diagnose 100,000 people.
COVID-19 has taken the life of Seyed Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council, which advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A research institute, based in Russia's St. Petersburg, has announced plans to create the COVID-19 vaccine in the third quarter of 2020 and to start testing it on animals in the fourth quarter of the year. US military scientists are also working on vaccines against the coronavirus, according to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
Estonia, which registered its first and so far the only COVID-19 case last week, is prepared to fully close its borders as the virus keeps spreading further through Europe. Meanwhile, the infected person is recovering.
Kazakhstan has announced plans to introduce an entry ban for Iranian citizens, while Angola has banned entry for citizens of China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria. The Czech Republic has decided to ban flights to northern Italy and South Korea. Armenia is suspending its visa-free travel regime with Iran, introduced four years ago, while Vietnam suspends visa-free entry for Italian citizens. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has suspended air travel with Afghanistan and Iran to prevent COVID-19 from spreading into the country. Neighboring Tajikistan has banned entry for citizens of as many as 35 countries.
Russia's Sakhalin region has suspended air travel with the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Monday in its preliminary forecast that the global GDP growth could slow down to as little as 1.5 percent in 2020 if the spread of novel coronavirus intensified.
France's famous Louvre museum has been closed since Sunday morning due to concerns among its personnel about the growing number of COVID-19-infected people in the country.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) is temporarily canceling all events of its 43rd session, except the main meetings, as a precaution against the spread of the deadly coronavirus, UNHRC President Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger said.
CERAWeek 2020, which bills itself as the world's premier energy conference and which was expected to take place in the US city of Houston from March 9-13, has been canceled.
The Economy of Francesco � a conference on the world economy, which was set to be held in Italy's town of Assisi later in March with the participation of Pope Francis � has been postponed until November.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has called on the government to take into account the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak when drawing up the country's budget for 2021-2023.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry and the national government conducted their Monday press conferences without an immediate presence of journalists due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
