Europe overtakes China as new epicentre of coronavirus outbreak, WHO warns

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Stacey Foster

Europe has overtaken China as the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva that "more cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic".

He added that Europe now has "more reported virus cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China".

Europe has overtaken China as the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned. Credit: AP

Dr Ghebreyesus also warned that it was impossible to tell when the worldwide peak for the number of cases would be worldwide.

Over 135,000 people have been infected worldwide, the most in China, where over 3,000 patients have died and over 62,000 have already recovered.

In the UK, 798 people have tested positive for Covid-19 by Friday, up from 590 the day before. So far, 11 people have died and 32,771 have been tested after Scotland also reported its first death from the disease.

The UK has moved from the containment to delay phase and measures have been implemented to try to reduce the spread of the disease.

Italy said more than 1,000 people had died from the Covid-19 virus. Credit: AP

Elsewhere around Europe, the Foreign Office told Britons to avoid all but essential travel to five regions of Spain as authorities there try to prevent the Covid-19 crisis from escalating.

The regions of Madrid, La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro have all been designated by local authorities as "areas of community transmission".

The Foreign Office is not currently advising Britons to avoid visiting other regions of Spain, or suggesting British citizens should leave the country, as transport routes remain open.

It comes as 60,000 people awoke on Friday in four towns near Barcelona to find they have been confined to their homes, with police blocking roads. Nobody will be allowed out of the towns in a bid to contain the virus.

People take a selfie outside the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona. Credit: PA

The order by regional authorities in Catalonia is Spain's first mandatory lockdown as infections increase sharply, putting a strain on health services and pressure on the government for more action.

The situation in and around the Spanish capital, Madrid, with nearly 2,000 positive cases of the new virus and hospitals rapidly filling up, is a source of significant concern for authorities.

The country as a whole had more than 3,800 cases by Friday morning and at least 84 deaths, but with a rate of contagion that is skyrocketing. In some areas, cases are doubling overnight.

On the continent, Italy said more than 1,000 people had died from the Covid-19 virus. France's southern neighbour is the worst affected country in Europe, with hospitals struggling to cope with the sheer number of cases.

The Louvre museum in France was virtually empty due to the coronavirus outbreak. Credit: PA

France announced that the Eiffel Tower would be shut from Friday evening, and schools and universities closed from Monday amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the country's President Emmanuel Macron has announced.

Denmark has announced similar measures; with all schools and universities shutting down from Friday amid the outbreak. The Scandinavian peninsula nation has said it has detected more than 500 cases of Covid-19.

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know