Global downturn looms as countries struggle to contain coronavirus outbreak

FILE PHOTO: Tourists wear protective masks in Saint Mark's Square in Venice as Italy battles a coronavirus outbreak, Venice, Italy, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri/File Photo

GENEVA/BEIJING (Reuters) - The coronavirus spread further on Friday, with cases reported for the first time in at least six countries across four continents, battering markets and leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise its impact risk alert to "very high."

Hopes that the epidemic that started in China late last year would be over in months, and that economic activity would quickly return to normal, have been shattered.