COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11.

The virus has killed more than 34,000 people worldwide and continues to spread at a rapid pace. Efforts to curb the outbreak have led to the global disruption of daily life and the economy, as schools and workplaces shutter in hopes of slowing transmission.

HuffPost reporters around the world are tracking the pandemic and the measures being taken to flatten the curve of transmission.

Read the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic below. (To see the latest updates, you may need to refresh the page. All times are Eastern. For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here .)

Surgeon General Asks CDC To Consider Mask Use 4/1/20, 8:10 a.m. ET

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Wednesday that he has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider whether people should wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He said this request follows new data on asymptomatic spread of COVID-19, which he did not specify.

But if you choose to wear a face covering, this cant come at the expense of social distancing, Adams said on Twitter. He added that masks for the general public do not need to be N95, which are tight-fitting and medical grade.

Advising people to wear masks would be a reversal of his earlier plea to the public back in February to stop buying masks. He had insisted, again in a Twitter post, that masks are NOT effective in preventing the general public from catching the virus and that their purchase was limiting resources that health care providers needed.

Nina Golgowski

Spain Becomes Third Country To Record 100,000 Infections 4/1/20, 7:45 a.m. ET

There are signs the infection rate is beginning to stabilize in Spain, even as the country becomes the third nation behind the U.S. and Italy to record more than 100,000 cases.

The daily death toll in Spain, which is two-and-a-half weeks into a national lockdown, rose to 9,053 from 8,189 on Tuesday, a new record, though the increase was lower in percentage terms than during the previous days. Total infections hit 102,136.

But the 24-hour increase of 7,719 was 1,500 fewer than the increase from the previous day, offering hope that the infection rate is slowing. However, HuffPost Spain reports (in Spanish) that ICUs are at risk of being overrun in up to six of the countrys autonomous regions.

James Martin

Restrictions Until April 13: Italys Lockdown Extended 4/1/20, 6:15 a.m. ET