U.S. stock markets fell sharply on Friday to add more twist in an already tumultuous week amid continuing COVID-19 fears.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 2 percent in late-morning trading. The blue-chip index had plunged about 3 percent at the open despite a strong jobs report Friday that exceeded analysts' expectations. The Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite also cut their initial losses, and were trading down about 2 percent.

The latest developments in the U.S. markets come as the World Health Organization reported an increase of 2,736 cases globally in the past 24 hours.

In Friday's press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhnom said that there were a total of 98,023 reported cases of COVID-19 globally, and 3380 deaths.

Adhanom called upon all countries to "make containment their highest priority."

The WHO chief also noted the effect that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on global markets.

"WHO is working with the World Economic Forum to engage companies around the world, and earlier this week I spoke to more than 200 CEOs about how they can protect their staff and customers, ensure business continuity and contribute to the response," Adhanom said.

Additional information from Washington Post