Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:

Worldwide death toll passes 10,000

There have been more than 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 around the world, roughly two-thirds of which have occurred in China and Italy, and more than 240,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed. There have been 205 deaths in the US, 144 in the UK and seven in Australia, as a result of the outbreak.

Spanish death toll passes 1,000

The death toll in Spain has surged to 1,002 – climbing by 235 deaths in the past day – as the country scrambles to contain an epidemic that has spiralled into one of the worst in Europe. The latest statistics from the country’s health ministry showed 19,980 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country.

More than a third of the documented cases are in Madrid. On Friday army specialists were set to begin entering care homes to help with disinfection after the virus claimed more than 50 lives at elderly care facilities across the region.

Concern as large numbers take to the roads for Iranian new year

Appeals by the Iranian government for the nation to stay at home at the start of Iranian new year have been widely ignored with more than 1.2 million taking to the roads, according to the Iranian police.

Northern towns on the Caspian coast, one of the main holiday destinations, reported tens of thousands of cars trying to reach them.

UK Hotspot being investigated in England’s West Midlands

The British government is investigating a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in the West Midlands, with one of the region’s NHS trusts reporting nine deaths from the illness, the highest number for any trust in the country.

The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, confirmed the government was looking “very, very closely” at why a hotspot seems to have emerged in the region, where 28 deaths have been recorded so far. The majority of deaths have been of elderly and at-risk patients.

Governor of California shuts down state

The governor of California has ordered all citizens to stay at home as he escalated the attempts of America’s most populous state to combat Covid-19. Gavin Newsom earlier wrote to Donald Trump to warn that 25.5 million people in the state could contract the virus – roughly 56% of the population.

EU open to coronavirus Brexit delay – European Commission chief

The EU would be open to a possible request from Britain for the delaying of the UK’s departure from the European Union, according to the President of the European Commission.

Ursula Von Der Leyen’s offer came against the backdrop of the continuing coronavirus outbreak across Europe, which has now led to the UK’s chief negotiator going into self isolation due to symptoms and his EU counterpart testing positive for Covid-19.

Warnings over global economy amid profit warnings and lay-offs

A worldwide credit crunch triggered by the coronavirus will set in motion a wave of corporate bankruptcies that will make the global financial crisis look like “child’s play”, investors have warned.

With the world’s most advanced economies all entering a shutdown that could last months, companies that have gorged on cheap money for the past decade face going out of business thanks to a huge spike in borrowing costs on international money markets.

China reports no new cases for a second day

China’s national health commission said earlier on Friday the 39 new cases it confirmed on Thursday were all imported, with 14 in Guangdong, eight in Shanghai, six in Beijing, three in Fujian, and one each in Tianjin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Gansu.

China is among a number of countries where stringent measures appear to have brought the virus under control, but where concerns are now mounting of a fresh wave brought in by travellers.

US politicians face demands to resign over reports of stock sell-offs

Two Republican senators have faced demands to resign after it was reported they sold off millions of dollars worth of stocks just before the market dropped amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic.

Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, whose husband is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), denied that they kept the public in the dark about the scale of the threat.