The coronavirus epidemic has broken out of Asia, and is now a very real threat to the West

REUTERS/Yara Nardi

• The coronavirus outbreak is now no longer restricted to Asia.
• Italy recorded a dramatic uptick in coronavirus cases this week, leaving authorities scrambling to contain the outbreak by locking down entire towns and closing fashion and sports events.
• It's totally upended many Europeans' daily lives, with Italy's neighbors closely monitoring their borders and other countries enforcing mass quarantines.
• Whether Western countries are prepared to deal with this crisis as severely as China has is yet to be seen.
• But US and British citizens being quarantined either at home or abroad have complained of unsatisfactory conditions.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The coronavirus has completely broken out of Asia, and is becoming a very real threat Western countries and their lifestyles.

Italy recorded a massive jump in infections this week, with the number of cases jumping from three on Friday to at least 229 on Tuesday. It is now the worst-hit country outside of Asia.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: What's really going on inside an insect-munching venus flytrap

See Also:

• One map shows how the coronavirus outbreak has spread to 38 countries around the world
• 12 towns in Italy are on coronavirus lockdown after at least 229 cases and 7 deaths made it the most infected country outside Asia
• Iran is closing schools, scrambling for hospital places, and spraying disinfectant in the subway as coronavirus deaths and cases spike