Global spread of coronavirus has cities, schools, tourist resorts in lockdown

Coronavirus cases have now been reported from every continent except Antarctica, forcing countries to take drastic measures for its containment. Italy has at least 11 towns on lockdown after rapid spread of the virus; UK and Japan have shut down schools while Australia is mulling similar measures. Several countries, including India, have either lowered flight frequency to affected countries or issued advisories, asking citizens to avoid travel to these nations.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia, which has the holiest cities in Islam, announced a ban on foreign pilgrims. Amid a warning by US State Department and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that it expects COVID-19 to spread in America, TOI tracks the global march of coronavirus as death toll touches 2,808 and the number of confirmed cases crosses 82,000 on Thursday.