Coronavirus infections near 2 million worldwide

Confirmed coronavirus infections were approaching the two million mark on Wednesday, nearly doubling in two weeks, while the death toll topped 120,000. The hardest hit are Italy, France, Spain, the UK and New York City which registered 10,000 fatalities by Tuesday.  The IMF warns of the dire impact of the disease, predicting the shrinking of the global economy by 3pc this year and the worst downturn looming since the Great Depression of the 1930s.