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WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said in Geneva there had been a “very large acceleration” in coronavirus infections in the United States which had the potential of becoming the new epicentre.

With the International Monetary Fund predicting a global recession, the world’s 20 largest economies agreed on Monday to develop an “action plan”, but without specifics.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday” the package would include loans for small businesses, direct deposits that could give an average family of four $3,000, and up to $4 trillion in liquidity for the U.S. Federal Reserve to help businesses get through the next 90 to 120 days.

Bankers from three Swiss wealth managers in Asia, which has the highest numbers of billionaires globally, said they asked some clients in the last couple of weeks to raise collateral against their loans amid a panic selling in securities.

Companies involved in the transport of goods say the impact is being felt hardest in air freight as more airlines shut down services, adding to difficulties with the transport of key goods such as medicines and perishable foods.

But since the bonds were launched in 2014, backed by about $190 million in promised financing from donor countries, investors have reaped more profits than countries battling epidemics. And even in the current pandemic, any payout to stricken countries would barely make a dent into what the outbreak has cost them.

Almost all insurance contracts covering companies, such as business interruption, supply-chain breakdown, cancellation of events or failure to deliver, exclude epidemics, according to FFA.

The French finance ministry said on Monday it was waiting for innovative proposals from insurers to design an insurance product that would improve cover of major health risks in the future.