BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, dozens of countries have stepped up efforts to enhance preparedness for the prevention and control of the epidemic.

As of Sunday morning, 101 countries and regions reported a total of 105,427 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Fadela Chaib told Xinhua.

Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe, started to lock down the northern Lombardy region and 14 nearby provinces since Sunday morning, as required by a government decree signed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Residents in the lockdown areas are "obligated to avoid any kinds of movement, whether in or out of the region," Conte said at a press conference early Sunday morning.

The decree, effective until April 3, also requires the suspension of museums, theaters, cinemas, night clubs, places of worship, ski resorts, gyms, swimming pools, schools, universities and other public places across the country.

"We are facing a national emergency," Conte said, underscoring the severity of the situation in the country where a total of 7,375 accumulated COVID-19 cases have been reported since the epidemic first broke out on Feb. 21.

He added the government has two objectives currently: one is "to contain the spread of the infection," while the other is "to avoid overburdening" of hospitals.

Such rigorous measures have been praised by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "The government and the people of Italy are taking bold, courageous steps aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus and protecting their country and the globe."

Other countries in Europe are also intensifying efforts to contain outbreaks as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran on Sunday announced a temporary ban on public gatherings of more than 1,000 people, and pledged to "simplify patient access to teleconsultation" by signing a decree facilitating the use of telemedicine.

In Germany, where the number of confirmed cases reached 902 as of 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Sunday, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn recommended that events with more than 1,000 participants be canceled for the time being, the German press agency reported.

Romanian authorities have also decided to ban all activities involving more than 1,000 people, either indoors or outdoors.

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.

Besides the European countries mentioned above, a couple of more countries in other regions have also introduced containment measures in an effort to prevent and control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that schools and universities in the kingdom are to be suspended. The decision came one day after schools and universities were suspended in Qatif region over COVID-19.

On Thursday, Iran launched a national plan to gather all medical and health institutions as well as volunteers under the health ministry in order to enhance the capability to deal with the rising confirmed cases.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has declared "war" on the novel coronavirus, pledging his government will inject 25 billion U.S. dollars into measures to contain it and ordering government organizations to shift to a "24-hour emergency situation room system."

In order to support the WHO's global fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and help developing countries improve their response capacities, the Chinese government has decided to donate 20 million dollars to the organization.

The WHO will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to push for substantial progress in international cooperation on epidemic prevention and control, Tedros said in a meeting with China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva Chen Xu on Saturday.

Viruses respect no borders. As the WHO chief has put it, "This is not just a threat for individual people, or individual countries. We're all in this together, and we can only save lives together."