30m
13 Mar 2020

WHO says Europe new coronavirus pandemic epicentre as global covid-19 death toll passes 5,000

Special Correspondent and Presenter

The head of the World Health Organisation has urged European countries to take more aggressive action against the virus as he says Europe is the new epicentre, as the focus moves away from China.

Just eight new cases were confirmed by Chinese authorities today, suggesting the spread of the virus is slowing down there.

The country has accounted for around 60% of the number of cases globally- just under 81,000 people have caught Covid-19 there and more than 3,000 have died.

In the US the total number of confirmed cases rose to over 1,600, with 41 deaths.

In Europe, Italian cases rose to more than 17,000, with 1,266 deaths.

Spain confirmed over 4,000 cases, with 120 deaths.

A state of emergency has also been declared in Spain, and leaders across the world have been forced to withdraw from contact with the public.