Inmates unfold banners reading in Italian Pardon, top, and Freedom, as they stage a protest against new rules to cope with coronavirus emergency, including the suspension of relatives' visits, on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan, Italy, March 9, 2020. (ANTONIO CALANNI / AP)

MILAN/LONDON/CAIRO/PARIS/BUCHAREST/TIRANA/WARSAW/VATICAN CITY/STOCKHOLM/TUNIS/ALGIERS/OTTAWA/MEXICO CITY/SEOUL/ROME/BERLIN/LAGOS/BRUSSELS/ROME/MADRID - Six inmates were killed in a prison riot in Italy and guards were taken hostage at another jail, as unrest spread in prisons across the country over measures to contain the coronavirus, including restrictions on visits.

Italy’s government has imposed a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy northern regions at the epicenter of the contagion, in an effort to contain a virus which as of Sunday had killed 366 people.

In a TV interview the head of Italy’s prison administration Francesco Basentini said three inmates had died inside a jail in the northern town of Modena, and three others had died after being transferred away from the prison.

“There have been a series of rebellions across the country,” Basentini said. Video shown on Italian television showed police and fire trucks outside the prison as black smoke swirled into the sky.

The justice ministry said fires had been set at a number of prisons causing severe damage.

Prison guards union Sappe said two guards had been taken hostage in the northern city of Pavia and were released after a police raid.

In an emergency decree on Sunday, the government imposed limits on direct contact between inmates and their families. Prisoners will be allowed to contact visitors by phone or other remote methods under the measures, in place until March 22.

Modena and Pavia are within the red zone that the government has established to limit the coronavirus contagion.

The number of coronavirus cases in Italy jumped 25 percent in a 24-hour period to 7,375, while deaths climbed 57 percent to 366 deaths

Justice ministry sources said two of the deaths in Modena were caused by an overdose from drugs found in the jail infirmaries, while a third prisoner was found blue in the face and the cause of the death was still unclear.

The prison unrest could add to political pressure on the government coalition of the center-left and the anti-establishment 5-Star movement. Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini said: “The gates of the prisons shouldn’t be thrown open with the excuse of the revolts.”

the head of Piedmont region said he had tested positive for the virus despite having no symptoms — the second regional chief to be infected in 24 hours — while Army Chief of Staff General Salvatore Farina also contracted the illness.

The number of coronavirus cases jumped 25 percent in a 24-hour period to 7,375, while deaths climbed 57 percent to 366 deaths. It was the largest daily increase for both readings since the contagion came to light on Feb 21.

Italy's government will further increase spending in a "massive shock therapy" to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Monday.

Conte added that the government would use the flexibility envisaged by European budget rules "in full".

Also on Monday, the Italian government urged the European Union to adopt a package of measures to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economies of the block.

READ MORE: Milan locks down, as nations scramble to contain virus

Pope Francis has cancelled his regular appearances in public to avoid crowds gathering to see him and will stream them on the internet from inside the Vatican because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

EU Parliament to consider calling off session due to virus

The European Parliament will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to consider calling off this week's plenary session of the EU assembly due to the coronavirus outbreak, two officials said.

The parliament had been due to sit in Strasbourg, France, for the plenary but last week it was decided that the members of the assembly should meet in Brussels to avoid unnecessary travel.

The EU officials said the meeting at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT) would consider whether the assembly should have a stripped-down agenda or postpone the entire plenary session.

The European Parliament will hold an emergency meeting to consider whether this week's plenary session of the EU assembly should have a stripped-down agenda or postpone the entire session

"Many of the non-essential agenda items will be dumped, at a minimum," one official said.

The EU is looking at all possible options to help the economy cope with the coronavirus outbreak, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Monday.

But she added the EU needed urgently an agreement on a new budget for the 2021-2027 period if it wanted to address current and future challenges.

EU leaders are set to hold a teleconference “shortly” to discuss a coordinated EU response to the coronavirus outbreak, the president of the European Council Charles Michel said on Monday.

“Following consultations I will hold a EUCO members conference call shortly on COVID-19 to coordinate EU efforts. We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens,” Michel, who chairs EU summits, said on Twitter.

An EU official said the call was likely to take place on Tuesday.

ALSO READ: EU grants govts fiscal leeway to fight coronavirus impact

Germany's COVID-19 cases top 1,000

Germany on Monday reported 210 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the Robert Koch Institute said.

The number of cases rose to 1,112, up from 902 reported on Sunday. The largest number of the cases, 484, were in the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state.

Germany, France, Switzerland close DPRK missions amid virus concern

Germany, France and Switzerland close their missions in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and withdrew their staff on Monday amid growing concern in the isolated country about the spread of the coronavirus, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said.

DPRK has not confirmed any cases of the coronavirus but it has made foreigners from any country that has reported a case spend 30 days in quarantine. It has also reinforced border checks.

DPRK has not confirmed any cases of the coronavirus but it has made foreigners from any country that has reported a case spend 30 days in quarantine

The Russian embassy said a plane belonging to DPRK's Air Koryo airline carrying 80 foreign diplomats, businessmen and relief workers left Pyongyang for the southeastern Russian city of Vladivostok.

Among them were the "full composition" of officials from Germany, France and Switzerland, all of which temporarily suspended work in Pyongyang, the embassy said. Thirteen of its own employees and their family members, 35 relief workers and an unspecified number of businessmen also left.

The group includes "Polish, Romanian, Mongolian, Egyptian diplomats and their families who decided to wait out the quarantine in their homeland", the embassy said on Facebook.

Britain's ambassador to DPRK, Colin Crooks, said earlier in the day that his German and French colleagues were leaving, though he did not specify why.

"British Embassy remains open," Crooks said on Twitter.

Crooks shared photos showing white vans, apparently taking his French and German colleagues to the airport.

Spokesmen at the French and German embassies in the Republic of Korea were not immediately available for comment.

In this Jan 29, 2020 file photo, US Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, rides an escalator before speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. (PATRICK SEMANSKY / AP)

US Senator Cruz self quarantines

US Senator Ted Cruz on Sunday said he would self-quarantine after he had contact with a CPAC political conference attendee who tested positive for coronavirus.

Cruz “briefly interacted” with the person at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Maryland ten days ago, according to a statement by the former Republican presidential hopeful.

US Senator Ted Cruz is one of the highest-profile Americans to undergo coronavirus self-quarantine since the country reported its first COVID-19 case

Cruz is one of the highest-profile Americans to undergo coronavirus self-quarantine since the United States reported its first COVID-19 case in late January.

Meanwhile, Republican Representative Paul Gosar, a dentist by trade from Arizona who had extended contact with the person at CPAC, said in a statement that he will close his Washington office for a week. Gosar and three senior staff members will self-quarantine this week, with Gosar staying at home in Arizona.

The number of confirmed US cases of coronavirus reached nearly 550 on Sunday, including 22 deaths, according to state public health authorities and a running national tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University center tracking the outbreak.

Portugal president quarantined

In Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be quarantined at his private residence for two weeks, after a student he received last Tuesday was confirmed on Saturday night to have infected with COVID-19 and his school was closed, according to a presidential statement.

France urges 'massive' economic stimulus plan for Europe

Europe needs to come up with a "massive" economic stimulus plan to cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, France's  finance minister said on Monday, adding that he would propose measures to euro zone counterparts at a meeting next week.

The appeal by Bruno Le Maire for coordinated action to support the economy echoed a call from Italy, which has been hit harder by the virus than anywhere else in Europe.

Meanwhile, a Disneyland Paris maintenance worker tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend, a spokesman for the theme park said on Monday.

The worker has not been in contact with visitors and the park remains open, he added, confirming a report by French daily Le Parisien.

France had 1,126 confirmed coronavirus cases and 19 deaths as of Sunday evening. The country banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people on Sunday.

With public events being cancelled and tourism numbers collapsing, Le Maire said the outbreak could cut French economic growth to below 1 percent in 2020 from a previous estimate of 1.3 percent.

Number of confirmed UK coronavirus cases rises to 319

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom has risen to 319 from 273, the health ministry said on Monday.

So far in Britain, three people who contracted the virus have died, the health ministry said.

READ MORE: UK records 1st coronavirus death, Vatican confirms 1st case

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee on Monday

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee on Monday.

The British government said it had set up a team to tackle "interference and disinformation" around the spread of coronavirus.

Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said the government would invest whatever was needed to deal with the spread of the virus, including more money for the health service and help for companies suffering short-term cash flow problems.

Egypt reports 1st fatality as German tourist dies

Egypt reported its first fatality from the coronavirus on Sunday, with the Health Ministry saying a 60-year-old German tourist, who had arrived in the country seven days ago and was taken to hospital in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, had died.

The country has been rushing to protect its important tourism sector, reassuring people it is safe to travel there after an outbreak of the virus on a cruise ship on the River Nile.

Officials said on Saturday the coronavirus had been detected in 45 people on the cruise ship, including foreign tourists, after the vessel reached the southern city of Luxor. Before that, Egypt had reported only three confirmed cases of the virus.

Late on Sunday, the Health Ministry said in a statement that Egypt registered seven new cases - four foreigners and three Egyptians - bringing the total number of confirmed case to 55.

ALSO READ: Infections top 100,000 globally as Trump signs US$8.3b bill

Nigeria confirms 2nd case

Nigeria has a second confirmed coronavirus case, the country's health minister said on Twitter on Monday.

Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a tweet said: "The new case is an Ogun State contact of the index case, one of 40 persons in isolation being closely monitored. He is clinically stable."

Egyptians who are traveling abroad in the next 24 hours wait for their turn to get a coronavirus test, in front of the Central Public Health Laboratories, that belongs to the Egyptian Health Ministry, in Sheikh Rihan street, downtown Cairo, Egypt, March 8, 2020. (HAMADA ELRASAM / AP)

Albania confirms first virus cases

Albania reported its first coronavirus infections on Monday, in a father and son who had returned from Italy.

The two were in stable condition and they did not have complications, the health ministry said.

Spain to launch plan to tackle economic impact of coronavirus

Spain’s government has prepared an emergency plan to deal with the economic consequences of the coronavirus, which it plans to launch shortly, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday.

Without providing any details, Sanchez said the government has been working on the plan for two weeks and was now ready to roll it out, in collaboration with trade unions and businesses.

“We will announce a shock therapy plan in a few days, as soon as we determine the exact diagnosis and fine-tune the measures,” Sanchez said. “We want the plan to be effective and proportional to the scale of the problem.”

Economy Minister Nadia Calvino separately told reporters the government was considering taking temporary measures to support the most severely hit industries such as tourism.

Calvino said the government expected the economic impact of the coronavirus to be temporary and limited.

With nearly 1,000 confirmed cases including more than 200 in Madrid, Spain has one of the highest incidences of coronavirus in Europe, though still well behind Italy.

Local authorities in the Basque region on Monday closed schools in the town of Labastida for two weeks after nearly 150 cases were detected in the area.

Several major events have been called off or postponed in Spain to minimize the transmission risk, but the government has so far refrained from introducing more drastic measures such as travel bans.

Romania bans activities involving over 1,000 people

The Romanian authorities decided on Sunday to ban all activities involving more than 1,000 people, either indoors or outdoors, in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.

The measure goes into effect until March 31 and may be extended, said Raed Arafat, head of the Romanian Department of Emergency Situations.

ALSO READ: Football matches in Romania to be held without spectators

COVID-19 continues to spread in LatAm countries

Brazil, the country most affected so far, reported six new cases, bringing the country's total to 25, the government said, with three of the 25 cases locally transmitted.

In Argentina, authorities said Sunday that three new cases had brought the total to 12.

Chile's Ministry of Health reported three new cases on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 10.

In Peru, where a total of six cases have been confirmed so far, President Martin Vizcarra called on private hospitals and clinics to join the government-led efforts to combat the virus.

Poland imposes sanitary controls at German and Czech borders

Poland has decided to impose sanitary controls at its borders with Germany and the Czech Republic to prevent further spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.

Poland has reported 16 cases of coronavirus to date.

In Spain, authorities said there were 589 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country. So far, 10 people had died of COVID-19

Coronavirus situation in other parts of the world

In Sweden, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 203 and over half them are in the capital Stockholm, the Public Health Agency said on Sunday.

Tunisian Health Ministry on Sunday announced the second confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. According to the health ministry data, out of a total of 2,586 passengers returning from the areas at risk of COVID-19 outbreak to Tunisia, 1,831 were still in quarantine.

Algerian Health Ministry announced Sunday a new confirmed case of COVID-19, bringing the total number in the country to 20, including 17 cases belonging to the same family.

ALSO READ: EU council reports 1st infection, Russia suspends export of masks

In the Netherlands, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by 77 to 265, and two more patients have died. In Luxembourg, a fifth person tested positive of the virus after returning from France.

In Greece, another seven people tested positive for the virus, bringing the total cases to 73. The Greek Health Ministry on Sunday required all open centers nationwide for the elderly to remain closed for at least one month, all conferences to be suspended during the same period, and all sports events to be held without spectators for the next two weeks.

In other parts of Europe, the confirmed cases had risen to 200 in Belgium, 35 in Denmark, 23 in Finland, 21 in Ireland, and two in Latvia. 

Passengers look out from balconies aboard the Grand Princess as it cruises a holding pattern off the coast of San Francisco on March 8, 2020. (NOAH BERGER / AP)

Grand Princess passengers bound for quarantine in California, elsewhere

An ocean liner barred from returning to port in San Francisco due to a coronavirus outbreak on board will dock briefly at a nearby terminal in Oakland, where passengers will be unloaded and sent on to medical and quarantine sites elsewhere, officials said on Sunday.

The cruise ship Grand Princess, whose guests have been largely confined to their staterooms since Thursday, is due to arrive at the Port of Oakland on Monday to begin immediately disgorging its 2,400 passengers, California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a news conference.

Nearly all 1,100 crew members will remain on board the vessel, which will depart Oakland as soon as possible following removal of the passengers and sail for an as-yet undetermined location outside San Francisco Bay for the duration of their two-week quarantine, he said.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday the country will send a chartered plane to bring home Canadians on board the cruise ship.

Italy's neighbors take steps to curb spread of coronavirus

Switzerland has announced checks of Italian commuters’ Swiss work permits and Austria has said it plans spot health checks of people crossing its southern border to try to contain the coronavirus.

The Swiss government said on Sunday Italians who work in Switzerland will have to show papers proving they have a job in the Alpine country.

Under Austria’s new measures, two mobile health check teams will from Tuesday check travelers in cars and trains in the Brenner pass region and two other crossing points.

Switzerland has reported 312 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 and two deaths. Austria has reported 112 confirmed cases.