The global death toll due to the novel coronavirus has crossed 5,600 with more than 1,55,000 cases. The spike in infections in Italy and Spain led to the tally rising manifold,
Italy announced 3,497 new cases on Saturday, bringing the global total to 1,51,797, with 5,764 deaths across 137 countries and territories.
Italy is the worst-hit country outside of China - where the outbreak began in the industrial hub of Wuhan.
After Italy, Spain has become the latest epicenter of the coronavirus after a faltering response.?
Spain now has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in an European city. Between last week and this week, the number of coronavirus cases in the country skyrocketed with more than 6,000 cases and close to 200 deaths.
Spanish PM warned that the number of cases could reach 10,000 by next week. That would give Spain one of the fastest rates of coronavirus contagion in the world.
In a bid to tackle the outbreak, the government has declared a state of emergency.
Australia is also boosting measures to control the outbreak and minimise its spread in the country.?
All people arriving in Australia will be required to self-isolate for 14 days and cruise ship arrivals will be banned for at least 30 days to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Australian PM announced.