Three more people have died in the coronavirus outbreak in Northern Italy, raising the death toll to 10.
It came as Croatia and Austria confirmed their first cases of the Covid-19 strain.
Meanwhile, a Tenerife resort hotel has been put on lockdown after an Italian doctor who stayed there tested positive for coronavirus.
Schools in the UK also closed as a precuation after pupils returned from half-term trips to Italy.
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Italian authorities have confirmed that a seventh person has died in Italy.
A sixth person in Italy has died in the coronavirus outbreak there.
Margaret Harris, spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the body will not officially declare a coronavirus pandemic, but will start to use the term in communications if it reaches that stage.
She added: “We could start describing it as a pandemic, but at the moment we are saying it is clusters and outbreaks in some countries.”
She said in most cases there was a clear epidemiological link between those affected and cases reported in Asia.
“If it became clear that it is all around the globe and we are seeing systematic community transmission, then we would say this meets the definition of a pandemic,” she added.
Restrictions on public gatherings and sporting events put in place by the Italian authorities apply in the Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto regions.
A Women’s Six Nations game and four Serie A football fixtures were postponed over the weekend.
In addition, fixtures in Italy’s national rugby championship, Top 12, and all domestic rugby activities have also been postponed ahead of next weekend.
A number of rugby fixtures have been postponed in Italy in light of the outbreak.
The UK has supplied equipment including facemasks to China to help combat the spread of the disease, the spokesperson said.
They added:
We have been supplying help to the Chinese government. We have supplied them with 1,800 goggles, 430,000 disposable gloves, 194,000 sanitising wipes, 37,500 medical gowns and 2,500 facemasks."
Downing Street has insisted the UK is “well prepared” to deal with coronavirus cases.
Asked whether the UK could put in place restrictive measures such as those seen in Italy to combat the spread of the disease, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:
We will be led by the advice from public health and medical experts and will take steps which they feel are required to best protect the British public.”
The risk to individuals “remains low” and 99% of those tested in the UK had come back negative, the spokesman added.
We are well prepared for UK cases, we are using tried and tested procedures to prevent further spread and the NHS is extremely well prepared and used to managing infections.
We continue to work closely with the World Health Organisation and international partners as the situation develops and we remain prepared for all eventualities.”
Foreign Office travel advice for Italy was updated over the weekend to reflect the particular situation in parts of the country, the spokesman added.
Sales of smartphones in China tumbled by more than a third in January, government data showed on Monday, in a sign of how the coronavirus outbreak is hurting consumer demand.
China started putting curbs on travel and asking residents to avoid public places in late January, just ahead of the Lunar New Year festival, a major gift-giving holiday.
Mobile phone brands shipped a total of 20.4 million devices that month, down 36.6 per cent from 32.1 millon in January 2019, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed.
Here's the front page story from today's Evening Standard
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