Asian shares and Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday in the first trading session of the quarter as the coronavirus pandemic and the prospect of a global recession tore through investor confidence.

Japan remains on the brink of a state of emergency as the rate of new coronavirus cases accelerates across the country, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday, amid reports the capital may order public schools to stay closed for a second month.

Factory activity contracted sharply across most of Asia in March as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed economic activity across the globe, with sharp falls in export power-houses Japan and South Korea overshadowing a modest improvement in China.

Japan remains on the brink of a state of emergency as the rate of coronavirus infections continues to increase in the country, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Australian authorities opened a pop-up coronavirus testing clinic at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Wednesday, as the country's central bank warned the economic fallout from the pandemic could last for more than a year.

Japan's government will hold a regular experts' meeting on the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday to get an update on the latest developments on infections, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Wednesday.

Japan remains on the brink of a state of emergency as the rate of coronavirus infections continues to increase in the country, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The U.S. government raced on Tuesday to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals near major cities as healthcare systems were pushed to capacity, and sometimes beyond, by the coronavirus pandemic.

Asian shares faced another leg lower on Wednesday as the coronavirus sharply slows global growth, leading a gauge of world stocks to post its biggest quarterly decline in more than a decade and oil prices to trade near lows last seen in 2002.

The captain of the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, in a blunt letter, has called on Navy leadership for stronger measures to save the lives of his sailors and stop the spread of the coronavirus aboard the huge ship.

The U.S. government raced on Tuesday to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals near major cities to ease the strain on overwhelmed healthcare systems as President Donald Trump predicted a "very painful" two weeks ahead.

As the outlook for Mexico's economy gets gloomier during the coronavirus crisis, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has driven home the message that his government is ready to help the poor to weather the storm - but that the rich can forget it.

Australian authorities will open a pop-up coronavirus testing clinic next to Sydney's Bondi Beach on Wednesday as health workers try to contain clusters of infections across the country.

President Donald Trump and his top healthcare advisers urged Americans on Tuesday to follow strict social distancing measures ahead of a "tough two weeks" that could see at least 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday it was not time to evacuate a U.S. aircraft carrier reeling from an outbreak of coronavirus, adding that he had not read in detail a letter from the commander of the ship pleading for help.

Tokyo is considering keeping city-operated schools closed through early May, public broadcaster NHK and other local media reported on Wednesday, a day after coronavirus infections in the Japanese capital hit a daily record of 78.

An independent group of workers at Whole Foods Market called on colleagues to phone in sick to the grocer's stores on Tuesday to protest what they say is a lack of adequate compensation and protections from the coronavirus.

Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden has quietly expanded his lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters, even as the rapidly spreading coronavirus has all but sidelined the former vice president's campaign, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday.

U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held out the possibility on Tuesday that the United States may consider easing sanctions on Iran and other nations to help fight the coronavirus epidemic but gave no concrete sign it plans to do so.

In the storm of infection and death sweeping Italy, one big community stands out to health officials as remarkably unscathed -- the 50,000 ethnic Chinese who live in the town of Prato.