⁍ Asian shares got the week off to a hesitant start on Monday.

---

⁍ China’s leaders meet to ponder the future of the economic giant.

---

⁍ The U.S. has seen its highest ever number of new COVID-19 cases in the past two days.

---

– The World Health Organization has declared the current outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe to be a public health emergency. Spain has become the third European country to declare an emergency over the virus, which has now infected more than 100 people in the country, the BBC reports. France has also declared an emergency after a woman who had recently traveled to Spain tested positive for the virus. The WHO says the outbreak of the virus, which has so far infected more than 100 people in France, Spain, and Britain, is not a public health emergency, meaning there is no risk to the rest of the world, Reuters reports.