US President Donald Trump has announced a national state of emergency, freeing up $50bn in federal funds for the battle against the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.
"To unleash the full power of the federal government, I'm officially declaring a national emergency," Mr Trump said in a statement on the White House lawn.
He called on all US states to set up emergency operation centres and said the government was accelerating testing, amid criticism about the lack of sufficient test kits nationwide.
The World Health Organization has warned that Europe is now the "epicentre" for the global coronavirus pandemic, and is reporting more daily cases than China did at the height of its outbreak.
"Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual press conference.
He described the more than 5,000 deaths worldwide as "a tragic milestone".
"Our message to countries continues to be, you must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone, not contact tracing alone, not quarantine alone, not social distancing alone - do it all," he said.
"Any countries that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks 'that won't happen to us' is making a deadly mistake - it can happen to any country."
The virus has hit several cultural and sporting events around Europe, and the world as a whole, with a number of events cancelled due to the spread.
The St Patrick's day parade in London was cancelled earlier today.
In a statement Mayor of London Saddiq Khan said he was "incredibly disappointed that this year's parade has had to be cancelled as key performers and parade participants are no longer able to participate due to the ongoing threat of coronavirus".
"I know that this will be extremely disappointing news for so many Londoners and visitors to our capital".
Earlier this week the Irish Embassy cancelled its St Patrick's Day reception and other events surrounding the national day.
Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht Minister Josepha Madigan, who had been due to travel to London for the St Patrick's Day festival, has cancelled her trip.
Meanwhile, Disneyland and Broadway are going dark, and schools have been shut in several European countries.
Earlier, Mr Trump defended his shock decision to impose a 30-day ban on travel to the US from mainland Europe, a move which sparked panic among travellers fearful of being stranded.
As the number of cases and fatalities surged in Europe, governments rolled out even tighter restrictions on travel and public gatherings, with sports and entertainment events cancelled around the world.
Italy confirmed a grim milestone as its death toll passed 1,000, while neighboring France announced it would close all schools nationwide and urged people over the age of 70 to stay home.
Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical.
Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person, within 1-2 metres, to be considered at-risk or a close contact.
Four towns in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region were put under quarantine on Thursday, a first in the country.
The United States, with 1,300 cases and 38 deaths so far, was swept by a wave of cancellations and closures in sports and culture, including Broadway, the New York theater district which said it was bringing down the curtain until 12 April.
Broadway fell victim to an announcement by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that only schools, hospitals, nursing homes and mass transit would be allowed gatherings of more than 500 people.
New York's prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art, which drew more than seven million visitors in 2019, also announced it was closing its doors.
California's Disneyland, the world's second-most visited theme park, said it will shut down tomorrow until at least the end of March.
Major League Baseball delayed 26 March start of the season for at least two weeks and the National Hockey League suspended play indefinitely, a day after the National Basketball Association did the same.
The virus, which first emerged in China in December, has quickly spread around the world even as cases in Asia have levelled out in recent days.
China claimed "the peak" of the epidemic had passed its shores, but the number of infections and deaths jumped dramatically in Italy, Spain and Iran, which announced 75 new deaths yesterday bringing the total to 429 with more than 10,000 infections.
Mr Trump's travel ban, which excluded Ireland and the UK, drew an angry response from EU chiefs who rebuked his "unilateral action" and called for cooperation to fight the pandemic.
The US president defended the move, saying "we had to move quickly" while conceding the measures would have a "a big impact" on the economy.
He also suggested delaying the Tokyo Olympics because of coronavirus, dropping a bombshell on his "good friend" Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"Maybe they postpone it for a year," Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, 19 weeks before the opening ceremony in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium.
His remarks came as news emerged that he met at the weekend with the Brazilian president's communications chief, who has tested positive for the virus.
Stock markets nosedived yesterday, with London, Paris and Frankfurt recording their worst day in decades as fears mounted of a global economic slowdown.
In New York, the Dow lost 10%, its worst session since 1987, while the S&P 500 plunged 9.5% and the Nasdaq shed 9.4%.
Unprecedented measures
Europe is struggling to keep a lid on the virus.
Italy clocked 189 new deaths yesterday - and more than 15,000 total infections - while Spain's infections neared 3,000, with more than 80 fatalities.
Italy has ordered the closure of all shops except pharmacies and food shops in a move that has emptied world-famous tourist sites in Rome, Venice and Florence.
Italy is not the only country to take unprecedented measures. Slovakia and the Czech Republic banned travellers from a host of countries yesterday.
Denmark shut all schools and universities after a 10-fold rise in cases since Monday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said up to 70% of the population was likely to be infected as the virus spreads around the world in the absence of a cure.
The EU health agency warned the risk was high that healthcare systems in the bloc will be overwhelmed.
As the crisis deepened in Europe, China, where more people have been infected than anywhere else in the world, appeared to be making headway against the outbreak.
Eleven people died in China yesterday - bringing the toll there to 3,169 deaths - the lowest daily increase since late January.
"The peak of the epidemic in China has passed," said National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng.
