With new tolls and key developments, here is the latest in the coronavirus crisis.
- 3,404 dead - ============== Across the world, 3,404 people have died from the virus. There have been 99,464 infections in 89 countries and territories, according to AFP's latest toll based on official sources at 1130 GMT Friday.
The main countries affected after mainland China are South Korea (6,284 cases, of which 196 new and 42 deaths), Italy (3,858 cases, none new, and 148 deaths), Iran, (4,747 cases, none new, 124 deaths) and France (423 cases, of which 46 new, and seven deaths). Bhutan, Cameroon, the occupied West Bank, Serbia, and the Vatican have announced their first cases.
Out of 80,552 diagnosed cases in mainland China, 53,726 people have been cured, while 3,042 people have died.
- Quarantine concerns - ======================= The United Nations says lockdowns, quarantines and other such measures "should always be carried out in strict accordance with human rights standards". In the Chinese city of Wuhan inhabitants harangue a top official from their windows, protesting failure to deliver foodstuffs. Seoul threatens to retaliate over what it calls Tokyo's "irrational" plan to quarantine arrivals from South Korea and China. Thailand rules out obligatory quarantine but calls for daily health reports on visitors coming from China, Iran, Italy and South Korea.
- Markets tumble again - ======================== Wall Street indexes on Thursday and European stock exchanges on Friday midday lose more than three percent. A barrel of Brent crude falls under the symbolic $50, for the first time since 2017. The governments of the United States and Italy approve emergency aid of $8.3 billion and 7.5 billion euros respectively. S&P Global Ratings agency says the coronavirus could cost economies in the Asia-Pacific area $211 billion in 2020.
- Called off - =============== The Milan-San Remo cycling race in Italy is postponed, the latest in a long list of sporting events hit by the virus. Next week's session of the European parliament will be moved from Strasbourg to Brussels.
Bollywood's "Oscars", Indian cinema's biggest awards ceremony due to start on March 27 and last three days, is called off. In Japan the annual ceremony marking the anniversary of the deadly tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011 is cancelled.
- Not-so-leisurely cruises - ============================ Egypt detects 12 cases of the virus among workers aboard a Nile cruise liner heading from Aswan to Luxor. Health authorities conduct tests aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship stranded off the coast of San Francisco to determine if any of the nearly 3,500 guests and crew have contracted the virus.
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