The virus has already hit business in Milan and other Italian cities. (Photo: AFP)

Italy's government plans to place large parts of the north in coronavirus lockdown as Italian cases soared past 200 on Saturday and the Vatican announced Pope Francis's Angelus prayer would be livestreamed.

In an unprecedented move echoing China's shutdown of its Hubei province at the start of global outbreak, a draft government plan obtained by an Italian newspaper said Italy intended to quarantine the entire Lombardy region around Milan, as well as tourist magnet Venice, Parma and Rimini, in northern Italy.

The quarantine decision was "imminent", Corriere Della Sera reported, as the number of cases worldwide rose to over 100,000 with 3,500 dead across 95 nations and territories.

The World Health Organization described passing the 100,000-mark as a "sombre moment".

In the United States, the governor of New York declared a state of emergency as 21 new cases were confirmed on board a cruise ship stranded off the coast of San Francisco.

Deaths continued to mount in the worst-hit countries with 36 new fatalities in Italy, 28 in China and 21 in Iran.

WHO said, however, the efforts of China and other countries were "demonstrating that spread of the virus can be slowed" with the path of the disease even "reversed through the implementation of robust containment and control activities".

Italy recalls retired doctors

In Italy, Corriere Della Sera and other news organisations cited the draft government resolution which said movement in and out of the quarantined areas would be severely restricted until April 3.

The Angelus prayers -- normally delivered by the 83-year-old pontiff from his window -- would also "be broadcast via livestream by Vatican News and on screens in Saint Peter's Square," the Vatican said.

Italy is the worst-hit European country and its toll shot up Saturday by a single-day record of 1,247 cases to 5,883, taking the number of deaths to 233 since the outbreak began.

Retired doctors are being recruited to bolster the healthcare system with 20,000 more staff while civil protection officials say Lombardy region is having trouble finding beds in hospitals.