German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that up to 70% of the country's population – some 58 million people – could contract the coronavirus.
Mrs Merkel made the stark prediction at a news conference on Wednesday alongside Health Minister Jens Spahn.
She said since there was no known cure, the focus would fall on slowing the spread of the virus. "It's about winning time," she explained.
Her remarks came as Italy entered its second day of a national lockdown.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the country, which on Wednesday passed 10,000 confirmed infections.
What's happening elsewhere?
New York's governor announced that troops would be sent into New Rochelle, a town north of the city, in an attempt to contain an outbreak of the virus, as the total number of US cases passed 1,000 on Wednesday.
A one-mile (1.6km) containment zone was in force around New Rochelle – with all of those in the zone quarantined.
In Italy, which has seen a steep rise in cases, Mr Conte pledged 25bn euros ($22bn) to tackle the outbreak – up from the 7.5bn euros announced last week.
Music festivals and other major events, including Coachella festival in California, have been cancelled or postponed. Berlin city authorities on Wednesday banned all events with more than 1,000 participants.
Thousands of flights have been cancelled worldwide as airlines struggle to cope with a slump in demand.
A UK health minister, Nadine Dorries, said she had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating at home.
China – where the virus was first detected – has seen a total of 80,754 confirmed cases and 3,136 deaths. But it recorded its lowest number of new infections, just 19, on Tuesday.
Third patient dies in Germany
Germany confirmed its third coronavirus-related death on Wednesday, in the badly affected district of Heinsberg in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The first fatality was an 89-year-old woman who died in the town of Essen, the second a 78-year-old man with pre-existing health conditions who died in Heinsberg.
Germany has so far reported 1,296 cases of the virus, according to figures released by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control late on Tuesday. Lothar Wieler, the president of the RKI, said the body did not believe there was a significant number of undetected cases in the country.
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