Dow plunges by nearly 1,000 points as coronavirus cases soar in Italy and South Korea

Stock markets have nosedived around the world as Italy and South Korea scramble to contain outbreaks of coronavirus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged by as much as 996 points, 3.4 per cent, when US markets opened on Monday.

The S&P 500 dropped by 3.1 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 3.9 per cent.

"The accumulation of reported cases and fatalities in China continue to [grow] at a slower pace but it's the spread elsewhere that's becoming a major worry," Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid told clients on Monday.

South Korea's Kospi index closed down nearly 3.9 per cent on Monday as coronavirus cases reached 830.

The country has now reported its eighth death, a day after raising its infectious disease alert to the highest level.

Elsewhere, fifty people have died in the Iranian city of Qom from the virus, according to some reports - higher than the official toll of 12.

China reported 409 new cases on the mainland, down from 648 a day earlier, taking the total number of infections to 77,150 cases, with the death toll rising by 150 to 2,592.

However, concerns over the spread of coronavirus are fast moving from China — with the original outbreak in the city of Wuhan — to the number of cases in other countries including Italy.

Italy's main market index is off 5.2 per cent as the country confirmed more than 200 cases over the weekend.

A fifth person has now died from Covis-19 in Italy. The original source of the outbreak in the country still remains a mystery.

“I wouldn’t panic but I’m certainly concerned at what’s happening in Italy,” EU infectious disease expert Professor Herman Goossens told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

There is now evidence that asymptomatic people were spreading the virus, he added, and if they are a “major contributor” then “we are very much on the verge of the next pandemic”.

Dr Simon Clarke, Associate Professor in cellular microbiology, University of Reading, said: “Worryingly, it seems that the virus can pass from person to person without symptoms, making it extremely difficult to track.”

Margaret Harris, of the World Health Organisation, said it was “still unclear” whether people without symptoms could pass on the infection but appealed to people to wash their hands as the “main way” it is believed to spread is from hands to nose and mouth.