The Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says the number of COVID-19 cases can only be described as heartbreaking and is urging countries to do more. The coronavirus has spread to more than 175 countries and territories across the globe. Here in the United States, tens of millions of Americans have been ordered to stay home. But, Italy continues to be a major concern with some of the highest number of cases anywhere. To discuss the situation in that country:

• Seema Gupta is a freelance journalist based in Rome. 

With cases rising around the world, how are other governments coping with the outbreak? To discuss all of this:

• Leighanne Yuh is a Professor of Korean History at Korea University.
• Danielle DiMartino Booth is the CEO and Chief Strategist of Quill Intelligence.
• Dr. Loren Miller is an investigator with the Lundquist Institute and Professor of Medicine at UCLA.

For more:

EXCLUSIVE: In a stark reversal, the State Department is now appealing to countries it delivers foreign assistance to for help in fighting the coronavirus. From FP's @RobbieGramer and @columlynch.https://t.co/1p9GNjxceR

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) March 23, 2020

Italy has recorded a smaller day-to-day increase in new coronavirus cases for the second straight day. Officials cautioned it was too soon to know if the worst is behind the country with the world’s second-biggest caseload. https://t.co/iPVj1IOcCd

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 23, 2020

China and South Korea have shown it's possible to flatten the curve of the coronavirus outbreak. In many other countries, the number of known coronavirus cases is still growing rapidly.

See which countries have flattened their curve. https://t.co/iUqZtbiCBX

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 19, 2020