Europe new epicenter of pandemic, WHO says

In Italy, the worst-hit European country, the number of infections surged by roughly 20 percent overnight because of what authorities characterized as irresponsible behavior by people still socializing despite the nationwide lockdown.

The total number of cases rose to 21,157, with death toll rose by 175 to 1,441. The increase was so far Italy's biggest day-to-day jump in number of infected cases.

In Britain, the death toll nearly doubled from the day before to 21, and the number of people infected rose to over 1,100. Ireland had 90 confirmed cases and one death as of Friday. Greece's infection total approached 230 with three deaths, and police there arrested 45 shopkeepers on Saturday for violating a ban on operations.

The United States announced on Saturday further curbs on travel to the country, extending a ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

President Donald Trump also advised against nonessential travel and said officials were also considering imposing domestic restrictions.

Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.

The US has seen 60 deaths and more than 2,100 cases.

By Sunday, over 152,000 cases and more than 5,700 deaths have been reported to the WHO from 141 countries and regions.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva that the WHO is encouraged that many countries are now acting on the eight pillars of its COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. He said most countries now have a national plan, most are taking a multisectoral approach and most have laboratory testing capacity.

"Our message to countries continues to be: You must take a comprehensive approach," he said, adding that countries should conduct testing, contact tracing, quarantine and social distancing all together.

Tedros said that any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks "that won't happen to us" is making a deadly mistake.

"It can happen to anyone," he said.

He reiterated that the experience of China, South Korea, Singapore and others clearly demonstrates that aggressive testing and contact tracing, combined with social distancing measures and community mobilization can prevent COVID-19 infections and save lives.

Agencies contributed to this story.