SYDNEY: The number of countries hit by the coronavirus climbed past 60 on Sunday, and infections and deaths continued to mount around the globe, emptying streets of tourists and workers, shaking economies and rewriting the realities of daily life.In Paris, the Louvre Museum closed, and priests stopped placing sacramental bread in worshippers’ mouths. Panicbuying of daily necessities emerged in Japan. Tourist sites across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were deserted. And governments closed schools and banned big gatherings. Australia and Thailand reported their first deaths on Sunday, while the Dominican Republic (first in tourist-rich Caribbean), Ireland and the Czech Republic recorded their first cases. Iran, Iraq , Italy and South Korea, among other places, saw the number of infections rise. More than 87,000 people worldwide have been infected, and nearly 3,000 have died.The US on Saturday recorded its first death, a man in his 50s in Washington state who had underlying health problems but who hadn’t travelled to any affected areas. Rhode Island reported its first “presumptive positive” virus case, a man in his 40s who had recently travelled to Europe.“Additional cases in the US are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover,” President Trump said at a Saturday briefing, where officials announced heightened warnings about travel to certain regions of Italy and South Korea as well as a ban on travel to Iran. Trump also vowed travellers from countries at high risk of the virus would be screened before boarding and upon arrival.China, where the outbreak began two months ago, on Sunday reported a slight uptick in new cases over the past 24 hours to 573, the first time in five days that the number exceeded500. They remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan . South Korea reported 210 additional cases and two more deaths from the virus, raising its totals to 3,736 cases and 20 fatalities. South Korea has the second-largest number of infections outside.Iran’s toll from Covid-19, the disease the virus causes, climbed to 54 as the number of cases jumped overnight by more than half, to 978 people. The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday and 385 new cases.Italy said on Sunday that the number of people infected has risen 40% to 1,576 in 24 hours, while another five infected people have died. British authorities said the number of people confirmed as infected rose by 12, bringing the country’s tally to 35, with one death. Most of the new cases involved people who had been in Italy or Iran. The number of people infected in Germany jumped sharply to 129, having doubled from 66 on Saturday. The virus has prompted cancellations or of several sporting events.