Cruise ships have been looking for safe harbour on four continents amid fears they are spreading the coronavirus that has infected more than 100,000 people and tightened its grip on day-to-day life around the world.
Iran declared a "sacred jihad" against the virus while virus tensions led to riot police being mobilised on Cyprus.
Italy had its biggest one-day jump in infections to prevent people gathering at St Peter's Square.
As the outbreak has moved beyond its epicentre in China, cruise ships have been in the spotlight.
On Saturday, they faced trouble in waters off the US, Malaysia, Egypt and Malta as those onboard were tested or confined to cabins, and questions grew about the future of the whole industry.
More countries are getting ready for a big increase in virus cases, imposing travel controls and shutting down public events.
After the city of Venice cancelled its cherished Carnival and governments warned citizens against travel to Italy, the epicentre of Europe's outbreak, the country is facing a possible recession. Hotel occupancy rates in the lagoon city are down to 1.0-2.0 per cent.
Passenger-packed cruise ships confronted their own virus problems.
Officials in California were deciding on Saturday where to dock the Grand Princess cruise ship after 21 tested positive for the virus.
There is evidence the ship now idling off San Francisco was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of 10 cases during an earlier voyage.
"Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined," US Vice President Mike Pence said.
"Those who will require medical help will receive it."
In Egypt, a cruise ship on the Nile with more than 150 aboard was under quarantine in the southern city of Luxor after 12 positive tests.
Also on Saturday, the port of Penang in Malaysia turned away the cruise ship Costa Fortuna because 64 of the 2000 people on board are from Italy.
The ship had already been rejected by Thailand and is now heading to Singapore.
And in Malta, which reported its first case of the virus on Saturday, the MSC Opera ship agreed not to enter the Mediterranean country's port amid local worries - even though there are no infections suspected on board.
The ship continued to Messina, Sicily, where passengers were allowed to disembark after officials reviewed medical records.
Transmission of the virus is now going in every direction.
While the global death toll has risen past 3,400, more people have now recovered from the virus than are sickened by it.
As of Saturday, nearly 90,000 cases have been reported in Asia; more than 8,000 in Europe; about 6,000 in the Mideast; about 400 in North America; about 50 in Latin America and the Caribbean and fewer than 50 cases reported so far in Africa.
While many scientists say the world is clearly in the grips of a pandemic - a serious global outbreak - the World Health Organisation isn't calling it that yet, saying the word might spook the world further.
The virus is still much less widespread than annual flu epidemics, which cause up to 5 million severe cases around the world and up to 650,000 deaths annually, according to the WHO.
In Iran, more than 1000 new infections were confirmed on Saturday, bringing the country's total to 5,823 cases, including 145 deaths.
A cruise ship worker cleans a railing on the Grand Princess off the California coast. Source: AAP
South Korea, the hardest-hit country outside China, reported 448 new cases, taking the total to 7041, with 48 deaths overall.
Italy has had its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the outbreak broke out in the north of the country on February 21.
In its daily update, Italy's civil protection agency said the number of people with the coronavirus rose by 1,247 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 5,883.
Another 36 people also died as a result of the virus, taking the total to 233.
The number of people in France diagnosed with the virus jumped by 336 to 949 on Saturday and health authorities said another seven people have died, taking the total to 16.
China reported 99 new cases on Saturday, its first daily increase of less than 100 since January, and 28 new fatalities.
Countries outside Asia stepped up efforts to control the outbreak.
Saudi Arabia banned spectators at any sports competitions starting on Saturday.
The NBA and British sports teams are considering the same.
"I ain't playing if I ain't got the fans in the crowd," Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said. "That's who I play for."
Spain deployed police to enforce a quarantine and Austria confiscated 21,000 disposable masks that a Turkish company smuggled aboard a tour bus, seeking to profit from soaring demand.
Turkish police, meanwhile, threatened legal action against social media accounts accused of spreading false virus information.
Among the many new cases in Europe on Saturday was a doctor in Slovenia who was in contact with more than 100 people in a nursing home after a ski trip to neighbouring Italy.
