Countries ripped apart by the COVID-19 pandemic

The novel coronavirus is wreaking havoc across the globe and has forced up to three billion people to stay under lockdown as the virus leaves its devastating imprint on nearly every aspect of society: wiping out millions of jobs, straining healthcare services and weighing heavily on national treasuries for years to come.

Let's take a look at the countries which have been most adversely affected by it:

The United States has more than 1,24,000 confirmed cases and its death toll has topped 2,100, more than doubling in just three days.

Of the fatalities, more than a quarter were in New York City. Due to this reason US President Donald Trump decided against putting the hard-hit New York region under quarantine.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has barrelled past 10,000 along with 92,472 confirmed cases, the second-highest number of cases in the world behind the United States.

Th country's lockdown is most likely to get extended till April. It's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has approved a new package of 4.7 billion euros of measures to help those worst hit, including shopping vouchers and food packages.

Antonio Alvarez, a nurse in the intensive care unit at Vall d'Hebron, the biggest hospital in Barcelona, described the heartbreaking daily task of phoning a family member to say goodbye to their loved ones -- from behind the protective glass.

"It's difficult to see patients who are alone and have no family with them," the 33-year-old said.

"They're saying goodbye from the door and it's probably the last time they'll see them" since funeral ceremonies have been banned, he said.

"If it was a member of my family, I wouldn't be able to stand just sitting there and seeing them behind the door," Alvarez said. 

"It's a very difficult situation." 

China has more than 82,000 confirmed cases along with more than 3000 fatalities according to China's National Health  commission.

Wuhan, a city in the Hubei district of China was the epicentre of the deadly virus.

France has more than 38,00 confirmed cases and has recorded more than 2,300 deaths. It's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned the country that the "battle" has just begun.

Iran has more than 35,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases along with more than 2,500 deaths.

The country has has imposed strict new containment measures, after weeks of public appeals largely failed to deter hundreds of thousands taking to the roads to visit family for the Persian New Year holidays.

The number of confirmed cases in United Kingdom are stood at 17,312 along with a death toll of 1,019, the seventh highest toll in the world behind Italy, Spain, China, Iran, France and the United States.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first leader of a major power to announce a positive test result for coronavirus.