BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.

The following are the updates on the contagious illness.

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UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations Security Council on Monday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Syria and the potential impact of COVID-19 on the war-torn country.

The council held a briefing via video teleconference on the situation in Syria and was briefed on by UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen.

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SEOUL -- Sentiment among South Korean businesses over economic situation worsened in March amid worry about the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The business sentiment index stood at 54 in March, down 9 points from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.

After peaking at 76 in December last year, the index slipped to 75 in January and 65 in February respectively. It was the lowest since February 2009.

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WASHINGTON -- The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States has topped 3,000, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).

As of 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday (0130 GMT on Tuesday), the United States has reported more than 163,000 confirmed cases, with 3,008 deaths, an interactive map from the CSSE showed.

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WUHAN -- No new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported Monday in Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei Province.

As of Monday, Wuhan had seen zero new reports for seven consecutive days.

The province also registered no increase in new COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to the National Health Commission Tuesday.

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WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said on Monday that the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been "rapid and sharp," and it's impossible to predict the depth of the recession at this point.

"The downturn has been rapid and sharp and it's different than any we've ever experienced in America," Yellen, who served as Fed chair from 2014 to 2018, made the remarks at a webinar hosted by the Brookings Institution.

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BEIJING -- Chinese health authority said Tuesday that no new domestically transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday.

The National Health Commission received reports of 48 new confirmed cases on the mainland on Monday, all of which were imported.

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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday evening announced the formation of a volunteers' force to help official institutions in fight the COVID-19 spread.

The prime minister addressed the nation in a recorded televised speech, saying the government will form the Prime Minister's Coronavirus Relief Tiger Force which would assist the state institutions in countering the COVID-19 spread and minimize its impact.

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BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland reported 48 new imported cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Monday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 771, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.

Of the 771 imported cases, 667 patients were still being treated, including 18 severe cases, while 104 patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Monday, with no death reported.

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GENEVA -- Given the latest growth curve of new coronavirus cases amid extensive lockdown measures, European countries, particularly the most affected countries like Italy and Spain, could see potential stabilization of COVID-19 outbreak, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) expert noted here Monday.

In the past 24 hours as of Monday morning, a total of 31,726 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Europe, which marked the lowest growth since last Friday, according to the WHO's daily situation report.

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BRUSSELS -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Europe kept swelling, with the region's total approaching 400,000 and that of Italy exceeding 100,000 as of Monday.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 693,224 COVID-19 cases and 33,106 deaths have been reported globally as of 10:00 a.m. CET Monday, of which, 393,285 cases and 23,966 deaths were registered in Europe.