The World Health Organisation raised its global risk assessment of the new coronavirus to its highest level after the epidemic spread to sub-Saharan Africa and financial markets slumped.

The virus has prompted many governments and businesses to try to stop people from travelling or gathering in crowded places. It has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 84,000 worldwide—the vast majority in China—since it emerged apparently from an animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December.