Coronavirus cases hit 100,000 wordlwide

Oscars that had been set for the end of the month.

And Hong Kong health officials advised residents to consider delaying all non- essential travel outside the financial hub.

The holy city of Bethlehem was in lockdown after the first Palestinian cases of the deadly coronavirus were discovered there Friday, leaving tourists scrambling to find a way out.

Meanwhile, in another measure to limit contagion during religious gatherings, Saudi Arabia emptied Islam's holiest site in Mecca to sterilise it.

With the elderly among the most at- risk groups, French President Emmanuel Macron urged people to limit visits to the old and infirm as much as possible to avoid further spread.

Stock markets and oil prices have collapsed as investors panic over the expected devastating damage of the coronavirus to global economic growth.

People line up to buy face masks and other discounted basic goods such as eggs and cooking oil during the launch of the government's mobile caravan by the Ministry of Commerce outside a shopping mall in Bangkok on March 5(Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)