GENEVA/DUBAI - All countries need to prepare to combat the coronavirus, the World Health Organization said on Thursday (Feb 28), as authorities raced to contain the epidemic's rapid global spread and Wall Street looked set for its biggest weekly fall since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

With new infections reported around the world now surpassing those in mainland China, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said even rich nations should prepare.