New York (CNN Business) The coronavirus outbreak has plunged the world's economy into a global recession, according to S&P Global.

The credit-rating agency, which determines the credit worthiness of governments and companies around the world, said Tuesday that the virus has severely disrupted economic activity -- far more drastically than previous estimates. It said the damage to economic activity is about to get worse in United States and Europe.

"The initial data from China suggests that its economy was hit far harder than projected, though a tentative stabilization has begun," said S&P Global's Chief Economist Paul Gruenwald. "Europe and the United States are following a similar path, as increasing restrictions on person-to-person contacts presage a demand collapse that will take activity sharply lower in the second quarter before a recovery begins later in the year."

The note says that while the outbreak of the virus seems to have stabilized in much of Asia, the economic data for recent activity there suggest that it slowed economic activity far more than originally expected.

"We now have China as a model for how the virus' spread could stabilize and society could begin to return to normal," S&P said in the note. But even that is raising concerns about the damage to its economy.

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