A man wearing protective suit walks across the Old Town Square, in Prague, Czech Republic, March 14, 2020. The wearing of masks is not considered the most effective way of preventing the virus.
The cumulative total of people who have been reported infected with the coronavirus is now higher outside China than inside, as the virus continues its global spread.
Cases outside China overtook the country for the first time on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins university.
It reverses the situation early in the outbreak of the virus, where China for months was home to the vast majority of infections and deaths, even as it started to take hold in other nations.
As of early Monday, 81,000 people in China have been reported as infected by the virus since it began to spread rapidly in the city of Wuhan.
But after draconian containment measures and colossal medical efforts, new reported cases there have slowed almost to a standstill. China says that most of its coronavirus sufferers have now recovered, though thousands also died.
Beyond China, there have been a total of around 88,400 reported cases as of Monday, with just under half clustered in Italy and Iran. Spain, France, and Germany now have more than 5,000 cases each.
The spike in cases has been particularly sharp since March 12, when around 16,000 cases were recorded in a 24-hour period.
Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP
Medical personnel work inside one of the emergency structures that were set up to ease procedures at the hospital of Brescia, Northern Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
The number of global active cases may be far higher than recorded, as reporting and testing for the disease varies from country to country.
In the UK, for example, the government admitted on March 12 that almost 10,000 people could have the virus despite a much lower official tally, which stands at 1,395 as of Monday.
The coronavirus has killed more than 6,500 patients worldwide.