Coronavirus live updates: 'We are at the start of the crisis'

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy rose in the last 24 hours to more than 3,400, overtaking the total number of deaths so far registered in China, officials said, as the tally worldwide nears 10,000.

The number of infections in Italy has also risen to more than 41,000, while cases in Germany, Iran and Spain rose to more than 15,000 each. Cases in the US also surged past 13,000, while the number of deaths hit 200, forcing the state of California to order a state-wide lockdown.

More than 209,000 people have now been infected by the coronavirus globally and more than 8,700 have died, according to the World Health Organization.

At least 86,000 have recovered from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the US.