Locked-down Italy on Tuesday recorded its deadliest day of the novel coronavirus outbreak, as airlines halted flights and neighbouring countries clamped down on borders of the worst-hit country outside of China. Chinese leader Xi Jinping meanwhile sought to ease concerns in the country where the virus was first detected in December, making his first visit to the epicentre of Wuhan and declaring the spread in the central city and Hubei province to be "basically curbed." On the world's financial markets, stocks and oil bounced back on hopes of US economic stimulus measures, after suffering their biggest one-day losses in more than a decade on Monday.

Fallout from the virus has extended across society in countries around the world, with major sports events postponed or called off, cinemas shut and large gatherings banned. On Tuesday, it spilled into US politics, with Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden both cancelling campaign rallies. Official figures showed daily infections in China are at their lowest level since record-keeping began in January, with 19 new infections and 17 deaths recorded on Tuesday, after a similar flatlining of cases in South Korea.