We now know there confirmed cases in 35 countries.

It's already classes an epidemic.

But is an update from the BBC's medical correspondent Fergus Walsh saying the combined situation in South Korea, Iran and Italy point to the early stages of a pandemic pandemic being when a disease has spread worldwide.

Here's the assessment of the World Health Organization.

This is not the time to focus on what word we use that will not prevent a single infection today or save a single life today.

This is a time for all countries, communities, families and individuals to focus on preparing.

We do not live in a binary black and white world.

It's not either or we must focus on containment while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic.

Look at the statistics The Corona virus has overtaken the 2003 SARS epidemic on the Middle Eastern respect, rescind OMERS in both the number of cases by far and also the number of deaths to the SARS outbreak lasted around eight months.

He's the W H o again on why it is very difficult to put a time frame on this.

Fires we don't know is what the reality will be in two months or in six months time.

There.

There is still a possibility that we can contain the virus and interrupted trans interrupted transmission.

But the virus may settle down into an endemic pattern of transmission into a seasonal pattern and transmission or could accelerate into a full blown global pandemic.

And at this point, it is not possible to say which of those realities is going toe is going to happen.

Well, it leap is one of the countries where numbers are escalating.

There's been 1/5 death today.

They're being more than 200 new cases since Friday.

Several towns in Lombardy and Veneto are on lock down.

That means around 50,000 people cannot leave without permission on you.

See how that's working in these pictures.

This is a police roadblock that's been stepped up to stop people moving in or out.

This is just outside a town called herself was the lingo.

If you go a little bit further north, well, this is a train heading through the Alps, but it was stopped from crossing from Italy into Austria because two passengers were suspected of having the virus.

Hours later, they're tested negative on the train was able to continue next.

These pictures are from Milan, and just look at these empty shelves.

That's because people have been stocking up on food and supplies.

They want to be ready in case a lock down is imposed here, too.

And already the city is taking different types of action.

It's famous cathedrals being closed, as have some schools and some universities.

Well, it's focused on one town that is locked down the town of Kodo.

No, just the southeast of Milan on the BBC's Marlowe in.

It's just outside.

Well, this is the exclusion zone now on the road to code on your the center of the outbreak and you can see they're stopping a ll.

The cars trying to enter here and all those trying to leave depends where they've got me.

They've got the authorization as to whether they can pass through and the Carabinieri on military air deciding whether or not to widen this exclusion zone in an attempt to control the Corona virus spread.

And Ma's been using his phone to speak to some of the residents who are stuck on the other side of that barrier, a feel a bit abandoned.

The news we get comes through.

What's up or Facebook?

There's a lot of false rumors around.

It's a real agenda.

Chill, panic.

Oh, people panicked.

Yes, people are panicking.

Some convince themselves it will blow over.

Others are worried and can't sleep.

And it's a set of one school teacher, also in a town which is locked down.

Called San.

You're on sequel waken Take walks.

We can walk our dogs, We can go jogging, We can ride bikes.

But authorities suggested tow us to avoid contact with other people.

We know that we may be infected and that we may already have contracted the Corona virus on.

We wait for these days to pass by living day by day.

If these symptoms appear, we know what we have to do, hoping that the emergency numbers are free to call because from what I know, it is really difficult to contact the health professionals.

So we've heard from Gordon.

You're we've heard from San Fiorano.

It's got a little bit further south just outside the locked down area to place could be a chancer on BBC's Bethany Bell.

Is there?

Well, certainly there is a lot of concern.

We've been wandering around Piacenza today.

People concerned about the possible spread of this.

They don't know how long quarantine in neighboring towns is going to last four, where just a few kilometers away from the exclusion zone here, a lot of the cafes and restaurant owners that we've spoken to here.

So they're worried about the impact on their business.

Very few people out and about, and in some areas a bit closer to the exclusion zone.

The cafes and restaurants are completely shut.

Was made from Italy to South Korea, has the largest number of infections outside of China, over 830.

And most of those are linked to a religious group in the city of Diego, right in the south of South Korea.

This was the scene on Monday.

That's how many people are in this queue.

It's outside a supermarket, and all of these people want to buy surgical masks and other supplies.

Well, the BBC's Laura Baker is being in Dig you over the weekend here.

She explains how technology is being used in an effort to restrict this virus.

They're using your phone to locate where you are, and then they'll send you an emergency alert if you're anywhere near where.

Ah confirmed Corona virus patient has bean.

Well, let's shift now from South Korea to the Middle East because we have a number of new infections and deaths across the region in Afghanistan, Amon, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq as well, all reporting the first cases.

We know that those cases are linked to a cluster of cases in Iran sent it around.

The religious city of Comb, which is just to the south of Tehran, is visited by millions of Shia Muslim pilgrims every year.

Here's Rana Ryan bore from BBC Persian on what we know about what's happening in the city.

There are introducing some measures about the security in the shrine, the shrine that a Shia shrine there.

And they say they said that there won't be any public prayers anymore for a while, and they put some some offenses between the shrine, so people that don't touch it.

But the problem is that they are lacking infrastructure and they're lacking accurate reporting.

Let's look at that last point because the official death toll in Iran is currently 13.

But a parliamentarian who represents calm is claiming that the true figure is at least 50 in the city alone and he's accusing the authorities of lying about the extent of the problem.

The deputy health minister has responded, saying.

If the number of deaths in calm ridges half or 1/4 of this figure, I will resign.

But that local parliamentarian has responded.

I've given the names of 40 dead people to the deputy minister.

Now we await his resignation.

Will his Ragnar again?

At least in seven provinces in Iran, there have been confirmed cases off coronavirus on many of them are religious hotbed, So the foreign since the city off Mashhad, which hosts one off the shrine's off the off the shears that is open on Dhe there.

The authorities haven't even confirmed any cases in Mashhad, but we know that Kuwait that evacuated 700 people off its people have confirmed that there were three cases that that had come from Iran, but that trying is open tonight.

Thousands of people are celebrating a Shia Shia celebration on they are just next to each other celebrating this event.

It's unbelievable how many people are there while we know that there is growing a virus and how and you and your colleagues of BBC Persian getting good information about the virus inside Iran.

Given that it's hard to get good information on anything connected to the government, it's very difficult.

The numbers that we heat we hear from our viewers is far more than what the Iranian authorities are confirming and there are.

It's a serious concern because they say 61 confirmed cases and 13 people have died.

But what people are telling me is far more than that.

And when the ratio between the confirmed cases and deaths it's much higher than the rest of the world.

So it's about nearly 20% off people have been killed so that this shows that there's a lack of transparency.

As a result.

People are very worried and they can't trust anything that the authorities are saying and we have other cases elsewhere in the Middle East we think connected to the outbreak in Iran.

So are there any restrictions on movement between Iran and other neighboring country?

Most neighbors have closed down their borders and under that they have suspended their flights to several cities in Iran on Remember.

Because the city of forms of religious city Mashhad is a religious city, they have many foreign pilgrims there and in the city.

Off under is a seminary.

What the most important share seminary there.

So there are many sheer students there who have been traveled back to their countries.

That's why it has quickly spread in many off the Muslim countries in the region.

Now.

This crisis is very much a global concern, of course, but China very much remains at its center these.

The later statistics on the situation there over 77,000 confirmed cases over two and 1/2 1000 deaths, and China's governments now taken the hugely symbolic decision postponing its annual parliamentary gathering.

That's the National People's Congress.

It was due to take place in Beijing next month.

Steve McDonald's there.

This is the most important political gathering off the year.

And to be putting it off, I really will make everybody pay attention in China.

Certainly, I mean, it would have been you have to get back to the probably the Cultural Revolution for the last time that the National People's Congress didn't go ahead as planned at the right time.

But you know, you can understand why.

Imagine 3000 delegates all coming to Beijing from across the country, including from who baked province, which is at the heart of the problem, not part from potentially getting infected themselves.

Some of them could be carrying the Corona virus into the Great Hall of the People where China's senior leadership are.

Whether you know, the heads of military business leaders and the like are all at that gathering.

Now imagine potentially infecting all of those people with the things disease which can be deadly.

Steven, with a political dimension to the story.

Next, his John side worth also in Beijing, with an update on what China is doing to combat the spread of the virus.

More broadly, who have you?

China is going all out to contain the virus.

This is an infection control squad in training, but there are still questions over its early response and the silencing of medics who try to raise the alarm.

Today, though, the World Health Organization was full of praise, China has rolled out probably the most ambitious, and I would say agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history.

To what extent do you think cover up and censorship played a role in allowing this virus to accelerate the rate it did?

I don't know, frankly, didn't didn't look at that.

I'm being completely honest.

But what worries me most is has the rest of the world learned the lesson of speed.

Once China woke up to the danger, it did move fast, quarantining cities and effectively shutting down its economy as the virus was allowed to spiral out of control.

In the province of WHO bay, it's spread in smaller but significant pockets toe every province in China.

This is the picture off a disaster, and it forced the government toe act.

And here's what happened.

The official figures show that in who bay, although the numbers are still high, they are stabilizing.

And, for the rest of China, even better news.

The numbers kept low by those containment measures, and if we have a closer look for more than a week now, they've been falling.

China's Bean so effective The World Health Organization says it's now safe to get the economy going again.

Welcome news on this farm, with the roads all blocked Of course it's brought sales down.

Wei Hong kun tells me if China's control of information helped start the crisis, its control over its people might help solve it, John said.

Worth BBC News Beijing was every day we're doing these comprehensive roundups of the Corona virus crisis, and if you want to watch any of them back, you can get it in the UK FYI player, but wherever you are in the world by the BBC News YouTube channel.