TOP HEADLINES

- World Health Organization head says Europe is the new epicenter of the pandemic

- Worldwide death toll passes 5,000, with more than 130,000 cases in more than 100 countries. The death toll in Italy alone has passed 1,000

- Spain declares 15-day state of emergency starting from Saturday, shutting down schools, shops and parades after deaths pass 100

- British Airways CEO Alex Cruz warns staff redundancies will be coming, saying the company's survival is at stake

- Belgium activates emergency measures, canceling events and closing schools and public places including restaurants bars and cafes until 3 April

- Ukraine's ministry of health announces country's first death, a 71-year-old woman

- Estonia closes schools and bans public gatherings until 1 May

- Austria closes almost all shops, except supermarkets and chemists

- Paris's Louvre museum closes on Friday until further notice as French government bans public gatherings of more than 100 people

- The German state of Bavaria will close all schools, kindergartens and nurseries from Monday until at least 6 April

- Bulgaria joins list of countries declaring month-long state of emergency

- The English Premier League suspends football fixtures after an emergency meeting was called Friday morning

- The French rugby federation suspends all its competitions due to the outbreak

- JetBlue airlines bans passenger from future flights after he boarded a plane knowing he had the virus

- Japan is adamant the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will go ahead as planned. The Olympic minister rules out canceling or postponing the games

- Seoul National University Hospital launches service allowing doctors to monitor patients with mild symptoms, near the epicenter of South Korea's virus outbreak through video calls

- Major movie releases are postponed including Disney's Mulan and Fast and Furious 9.

ACROSS EUROPE

By Toni Waterman in Brussels

Things are set to get much quieter in Belgium. The government has ordered all bars and restaurants to close. Stores selling non-essential items have also been asked to limit their hours and close over the weekend. 

All public schools will be shut as of Monday 16 March until 3 April.

Brussels will also unveil options for an economic response to coronavirus on Friday afternoon. Options include bending fiscal rules, allowing flexibility on state aid, offering cheap loans and organizing a coordinated fiscal response, among others. Loosening the rules would allow countries to open the fiscal taps without being penalized by Brussels. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already pledged up 25 billion euros ($28 billion) in funding to fight the outbreak.

By Stefan De Vries in Paris 

As of Monday, all schools – from nurseries to universities – will stay closed for at least two weeks. 

During school vacations in France, it is customary to send children to stay with their grandparents. However, as President Emmanuel Macron said that all contact with people older than 70 years should be avoided, parents are now struggling to find alternative childcare.

The government also urged employees to work from home and offered help to companies that will have to temporarily cut staff.

To make sure businesses keep enough cash flow, they will be exempt from paying taxes and social charges until further notice. 

The finance minister said early on Friday that the economic impact will cost the government "tens of billions of euros," with the country facing a serious economic recession.

In sport, all football matches in the country's top two leagues have been cancelled.

By Guy Henderson in Geneva 

"The wave has now arrived in Switzerland," the head of the country's Federal Office of Public Health said on Thursday.

For now, the southern canton of Tocini has been the main source of infection. After a state of emergency was declared there earlier this week, schools, nightclubs, cinemas, gyms and ski areas have been shut. 

Nine border posts with Italy have been closed, with just a few left open for essential travel. Those who break the rules face stiff penalties.

Switzerland now has more than 800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and six deaths. Those figures are expected to rise very significantly.

Officials say it is only a matter of time until similar restrictions are extended across the rest of the country.

By Ira Spitzer in Frankfurt

Four German states – Bavaria, Saarland, Lower Saxony and the city of Berlin – have said they will close all schools and nurseries. 

The closures are planned until the end of the Easter holidays in mid-April. Bavaria also announced restrictions on visits to nursing homes because of the high risk to the elderly from the virus.

The country's top football league, the Bundesliga, has said it will cancel matches from Tuesday until 2 April. Matches this weekend are scheduled to proceed as planned but clubs are playing without spectators.

So far, Germany has reported 2,369 infections and five deaths from COVID-19 as of Thursday evening. 

By Nawied Jabarkhyl in London

The UK government is defending its decision not to take stricter measures to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. Unlike some other European countries, it's not closing down schools or calling for a cancelation of mass gatherings and sporting events.

Instead, the government says it's now moved into the "delay" phase of its response. That is the second of the four stages in its battle plan against the disease. It's now advising anyone who has a cough or fever to self-isolate for seven days, regardless of whether they've been tested for the coronavirus.

MARKETS AND BUSINESS

- The European Union and eurozone are very likely to be in a recession this year because of the outbreak, a top economic official from the European Commission has said

- In Europe, the benchmark STOXX 600 index was up 2.6 percent, following a 12 percent crash on Thursday that erased more than $1 trillion from the value of European firms and plunged global equities into a bear market

- The European Union is to launch a 37 billion euro ($41 billion) investment initiative to cushion the bloc's economies from the impact of the virus, Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

- Sweden's central bank says it will lend up to 500 billion kronor ($52 billion) to companies via the nation's lenders to help them get through the worst of the outbreak

- Portugal is also helping businesses through the pandemic by delaying some tax payments and granting soft loans

- Norway's central bank unexpectedly cut its key policy rate to 1.0 percent from 1.5 percent due to the pandemic, saying it would decrease it further, below zero percent if necessary

- German flagship carrier Lufthansa plans to request state aid from several European governments

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

- President Xi Jinping says China is maintaining economic, social progress amid epidemic control in phone talks with UN chief

- COVID-19 Global Roundup: World leaders at risk of being infected

- Politico: Trump impedes COVID-19 response because of concerns about his re-election

- Video: Five things China did right to contain COVID-19

CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded. Here you can read the essential information about the crisis.