BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- As the number of COVID-19 infections continues to rise worldwide, more regions and countries announced state of emergencies and called for supplies of personal protective equipment and diagnostic kits.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday in Geneva that a list of agreed suppliers in China is available now, but "the shortages will continue to be a challenge."

As of Thursday evening, over 100,000 people across Europe had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. More than 40 European countries were hit by the disease.

In Italy, a total of 427 COVID-19 patients had died in 24 hours, taking the country's death toll to 3,405, according to the country's Civil Protection Department.

The cumulative number of coronavirus cases reached 41,035, making Italy the hardest-hit country outside China.

Spain recorded the second most cases in Europe after Italy, with its number of COVID-19 infections rose to 17,147 on Thursday, with 767 deaths from the virus.

In the Middle East, Iran is the worst hit with 149 new deaths from COVID-19 reported on Thursday. The death toll rose to 1,284 while its COVID-19 caseload climbed to 18,407.

In Latin America, Brazil reported the most infected people with its caseload rising from 428 to 621 with six fatalities, followed by Ecuador rising to 260 and Peru's climbed to 234 nationwide.

Several Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia and Myanmar, have closed their borders on Thursday to contain the spread of COVID-19.

South Korea reported 152 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Thursday local time, raising the total number of infections to 8,565.

Japanese authorities said the number of COVID-19 infections nationwide had risen to 936 cases as of 6:30 p.m. local time (0930 GMT) Thursday.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday raised travel advisory to Level 4, which instructs its citizens to avoid all international travel amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus.

According to the latest update on Thursday by Johns Hopkins University, the United States registered 13,680 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 with 200 deaths.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that after consultation with its neighbor, the U.S.-Canada border is expected to close, effective overnight on Friday.