Coronavirus: fears that a global pandemic is inevitable

From East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America and Africa, a constant flow of new cases on Friday fueled the feeling that the new coronavirus epidemic can become a global pandemic, some public health officials say it may be inevitable.

In South Korea, Italy and Iran — countries with the largest outbreak outside of China — the government reported more than 3500 infections Friday, about two times more than two days earlier. Officials in South Korea rushed to test thousands of members of the Church in the center of the outbreak in this country.

Africa has long been a source of concern, and the case in Nigeria have raised concerns that there may be overlooked new infection.

In Europe, Wales and Northern Ireland reported its first confirmed cases of the disease, and Switzerland banned all meetings of more than 1,000 people.

Online map of the spread of coronavirus: More than 83 000 people in at least 56 countries have been infected and more than 2,800 died.

Alarmed by the rapid spread of the virus and the growing threat it poses to the economy, the financial markets around the world continued a steady decline on Friday, when wall street fell sharply after losses in Asia and Europe early in the day.

Despite the fact that the country was preparing for the likelihood of significant outbreaks, the early missteps have caused disturbing questions about how country — even those who have a reliable health system to cope with the flow of cases.