Coronavirus latest: Europe scrambles to curb outbreak

European governments are hurrying to control the spread of COVID-19. Britain has unveiled an "action plan," France shut over 100 schools, and German politicians have demanded steps to protect the economy.

© Reuters/B. Tessier Provided by Deutsche Welle

On another busy day of developments, here is the latest on coronavirus:

- The number of infections stands at 90,900 globally, with over 3,000 deaths

- China has reported a slowdown in the number of cases

- WHO says outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan are its greatest concern

- In Germany, 188 people have contracted the virus

All updates in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT).

11:15 The European Union has activated its crisis response mechanism to allow for faster decision making in coordinating a response to the coronavirus outbreak.

#COVID19 | @EU2020HR decided to escalate @EUCouncil's crisis mechanism to full mode. Affected member states, relevant EU institutions and stakeholders will meet more regularly in crisis roundtables from next week. More info: https://t.co/9Oay4pnwR0 pic.twitter.com/XOJphVP557

— EU Council (@EUCouncil) March 3, 2020

10:37 England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, has told a press conference that it's unlikely Britain would lock down any cities to prevent coronavirus from spreading, but he added that the government would keep its options open.

"Locking down a city is most useful when it is starting in one place with a high transmission in that place and nowhere else," Whitty said. "It seems unlikely we will be in that situation in the medium to long term future."

10:32 The British government has announced a "battle plan" to deal with the spread of the coronavirus. The measures outlined in the plan include possible school closures and allowing employees to work from home. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was "highly likely" the number of virus cases would rise from the current tally of 39, and warned that as many as one-fifth of employees could be sick and absent from their workplaces during "peak weeks" of the outbreak.

10:15 Read how things unfolded on Monday here.

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