Factbox: Latest on the spread of coronavirus around the world
(Reuters) - U.S. officials appealed for patience on Sunday as travelers returning to the United States were met by long lines and massive delays at major airports so they could be screened for the coronavirus.
Spain, France and Austria imposed stringent measures to combat the rapidly spreading outbreak and several countries announced new curbs on travel.
DEATHS, INFECTIONS
*Some 156,465 people have been infected across the world and 5,838 have died, according to a Reuters tally. In China there have been 80,984 cases and 3,203 deaths.
AMERICAS
*Amid chaos at airports, Americans were urged to hunker down and face new realities. Washington suspended travel from certain European countries for 30 days beginning at midnight on Friday.
*Officials have recorded nearly 3,000 cases and 59 deaths in the United States.
*U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday the cost of a coronavirus aid package will likely be "significant but not huge."
*Mnuchin said expected to have a better idea of the price tag this week and added he also planned to talk to lawmakers about critical aid to airlines, as well as the hotel and cruise ship industries.
*Argentina banned entry to non-residents who have traveled to a country highly affected by coronavirus in the last 14 days.
*Mexico warned the coronavirus outbreak could last all year as it began rolling out tougher measures to contain the spread, calling for an end to large gatherings and extending Easter school holidays.
EUROPE
*Spaniards hunkered down in silent cities - with children's playgrounds blocked off with police tape - after the government imposed sudden, severe restrictions on public life.
*Spain's official coronavirus death toll rose by 152 overnight to 288 on Sunday. The number infected rose by 2,000 new cases to 7,753.
*The Netherlands will close all schools, cafes, restaurants and sport clubs nationwide, the government decided on Sunday, its most far-reaching moves yet on the epidemic.
*Italy agreed a series of measures to improve health controls in factories, offices and other workplaces that have been allowed to stay open during the country's lockdown.
*Austria's chancellor announced major restrictions on movement in public places on Sunday, banning gatherings of more than five persons and urging Austrians to self-isolate, as well as putting further limits on who can enter the country.
*French voters appeared to be holding back from taking part in local elections on Sunday after the government pressed ahead with the vote despite a raft of new measures to curb public gatherings.
*Britain will isolate older people "within weeks" and force into quarantine anyone diagnosed with coronavirus, the government said as it stepped up measures that have so far been less stringent than elsewhere in Europe.
*Germany urged people returning from Italy, Switzerland and Austria to self-isolate for up to two weeks.
*Pope Francis' Holy Week and Easter services, which normally draw tens of thousands of people, will be held without the public attending because of the coronavirus outbreak, a step believed to be unprecedented in modern times.
ASIA
*China has tightened checks on international travellers at Beijing airport and said it will centrally quarantine all arrivals at its capital, after new imported coronavirus cases surpassed locally transmitted infections for a second day.
*Australia will impose 14-day self-isolation on international travellers arriving from midnight Sunday and ban cruise ships from foreign ports for 30 days, mirroring restrictions in nearby New Zealand aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
*The Philippines recorded four additional coronavirus deaths and 29 new cases, bringing the domestic tally of infections to 140, as authorities placed the entire capital Manila under "community quarantine" for about a month beginning Sunday.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
*Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial was delayed on Sunday for two months, until May, due to the coronavirus crisis.
*President Michel Aoun declared a medical state of emergency in Lebanon on Sunday and called on people to work from home as the country steps up measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
*Gulf Arab states expanded measures, with the United Arab Emirates shuttering several public venues including parks and the Abu Dhabi bourse trading hall, as infections continued to spread in the region.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
*With one of Wall Street's wildest weeks in recent memory now in the history books, investors braced for more uncertainty and big market swings ahead.
*Saudi Aramco said it plans to cut capital spending in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, and also posted a plunge in profit for last year, missing forecasts in its first earnings announcement as a listed company.
*Most major Middle Eastern stock markets closed lower on Sunday amid fears of economic fallout from coronavirus precautions, with Egypt falling the most and Saudi Aramco slipping after it missed profit forecasts.
*Airlines called on the British government to help ensure their survival during the coronavirus crisis on Sunday after the U.S. extended restrictions on European travellers to include Britain.
*U.S. sportswear giant Nike Inc said it is closing all of its stores in the United States and several other countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
*Britain's food retailers appealed to shoppers to stop panic buying, saying purchasing more than they need would mean others will be left without.
SPORTS
*The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games flame handover in Athens next week will be done in an empty stadium amid the coronavirus outbreak, Greece's Olympic Committee said on Sunday.
*That was just one event among many on a sports calendar that has been completely upended by the virus.
(Compiled by Frances Kerry)
