File picture shows World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 9, 2020. (Photo by Li Ye/Xinhua)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an immediate ceasefire in the world's conflict zones, and leaders of the G20 major economies are expected to respond to the escalating crisis in a video conference this week.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the world's 20 largest economies agreed Monday to develop an "action plan" to respond to a coronavirus pandemic that the IMF now expects to trigger a global recession.

Britain ordered a three-week lockdown on Monday in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, joining other nations in imposing strict stay-at-home orders, as the number of deaths worldwide from the virus surged past 16,500 and the number of confirmed cases surpassed 378,000.

The death toll in New York City neared 100, sparking growing concerns over the spread of the virus in the US' largest metropolis, home to some 8.4 million people.

In Washington DC, congressional efforts to pass a nearly 2 trillion dollar rescue package for the teetering US economy failed for a second straight day after Democrats said the Republican proposal prioritizes big corporations and insufficiently protects workers.

Meanwhile with major cultural and sporting events already wiped off the calendar, there were mounting calls to postpone the Tokyo Olympics.

In London, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week shutdown of "non-essential" shops and services and banned gatherings of more than two people. 

"Stay at home," Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures after the country's death toll climbed to 335.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the global pandemic was clearly "accelerating."

The number of coronavirus deaths surged past 16,500 on Monday, with over 378,000 infections in over 174 countries and regions. 

Tedros said it took 67 days from the beginning of the outbreak in China in December last year for the virus to infect the first 100,000 people worldwide.

In comparison, it took 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases, he said.

Tedros acknowledged that a number of countries were struggling to take more aggressive measures because of a lack of resources but said "we are not helpless bystanders."

More than 10,000 people have now died in Europe alone, the new epicenter of the disease. 

The countries that have recorded the most deaths over the last 24 hours are Italy, with 601, Spain with 462 and France with 186. Italy, with more than 6,000 deaths, now has more fatalities than China but the number of single-day deaths were slightly down on Monday. 

There have been 573 deaths in the US - 98 of them in New York City alone, which has become the epicenter of America's coronavirus crisis.