An almost empty Piazza del Duomo in Milan, capital of Lombardy, the region at the center of Italy's coronavirus outbreak, on February 28. Miguel MEDINA / AFP via Getty Images

Global cases are nearing 95,000: The number of people who have died from the coronavirus has risen to 3,283 as of Thursday, with 3,012 in mainland China. Outside of China, the most deaths have been reported in Italy, Iran and South Korea. Close to 95,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide, again with the vast majority in mainland China.

Italy is shutting schools: Outside of China, one of the worst outbreaks has been in Italy, where more than 3,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed, and 107 deaths. The country announced Wednesday that it was closing all schools and universities until March 15, and a "red zone" has been declared in the north of the country.

Fears of a global pandemic are growing: While the World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to declare the coronavirus a pandemic, as there is limited evidence of sustained transmission among people who have not recently traveled to China or had close contact with someone who recently traveled to China, other authorities have been less circumspect. Speaking Wednesday, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said "the coronavirus outbreak in China has become a global pandemic."

There may be another cruise ship outbreak: The Diamond Princess cruise liner quarantined in Japan dominated headlines for weeks, and now another ship has been halted -- this time off the coast of California -- after passengers and crew demonstrated symptoms. Governor Gavin Newsom, who earlier declared a state of emergency over an outbreak in the state, said the Grand Princess had been delayed to allow US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff time to inspect it.

Trump used the virus to go after Obama: The US President falsely claimed Wednesday that policies adopted by the Obama administration had slowed down diagnostic testing. Both a Republican senator's office and a lab association said this is not correct.