GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization says the coronavirus outbreak is accelerating but insists “we can change the trajectory of this pandemic”.

More than 1.5 billion people — one-fifth of the world’s population — were urged or ordered to stay home, up to yesterday, to try to blunt the spread of coronavirus. The death toll from the global coronavirus pandemic has surpassed 14,600 people worldwide, and it has sickened more than 335,000.

Leaders in the United States were hammering out a rescue package that could be worth nearly US$2 trillion, while the death toll in Italy soared again.

A surge in infections has caused a critical shortage of medical supplies in many places. The hunt for ventilators and other critical items is consuming Europe and the US.

In the meanwhile:

* The coronavirus has arrived in the Gaza Strip and Syria, raising fears that the pandemic may now prey on some of the most vulnerable populations in the world.

* People defying social distancing and lockdown restrictions from France to Florida to carry on as normal are coming under fire. One French minister was furious: “Some consider they’re little heroes when they break the rules. Well, no. You’re an imbecile, and especially a threat to yourself.”

* Grieving has become even more upsetting for families in the time of coronavirus. An untold number of burials around the globe now go forward with nothing more than a cleric, a funeral home employee, and a single loved one. Others receive what would have once been called pauper’s funerals, buried in the clothes they died in.

* For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.

* One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers, and under fingernails before rinsing off.

* You should also clean your phone.

* Separate fact from fiction and rumour from deliberate efforts to mislead.