London | French President Emmanuel Macron has raised fears of a major coronavirus crisis on the continent, as Europe ramped up contingency plans, sharemarkets plunged and increasing numbers of public events were threatened with cancellation.

"We are facing a crisis, an epidemic is coming," Mr Macron said on Thursday (Friday AEDT) during a hospital visit. "We know that we're only at the beginning. We're going to try and make the right decisions."