The new coronavirus is believed to be spreading throughout Yemen where the health care system "has in effect collapsed", the United Nations said, appealing for urgent funding. Photo: AFP or licensors
The United States plans a massive testing effort involving over 100,000 volunteers and a half dozen or so of the most promising vaccine candidates in an effort to deliver a safe and effective one by the end of 2020, scientists leading the program told Reuters.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* More than 5.15 million people were reported to have been infected globally and 333,702 have died, according to a Reuters tally on Friday.
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
* For a US-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.
EUROPE
* Oxford University and AstraZeneca plan to recruit around 10,000 adults and children in Britain for trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.
* Czech health authorities believe the spread of virus is under control, as the country prepares to open pubs, hotels and relax mask-wearing rules.
* Lockdowns will be eased in Spain's capital Madrid and second city Barcelona from Monday to allow outdoor dining and gatherings of up to 10 people.
AMERICAS
* The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, championed by US President Donald Trump, was tied to increased risk of death in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, according to a large study published in the medical journal Lancet.
* The United States called on the World Health Organisation to begin work immediately on investigating the source of the coronavirus, as well as its handling of the response to the pandemic.
* Canada will ramp up Covid-19 testing and contact tracing as it gradually lifts restrictions and is working closely with Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google on a mobile phone app to help, the prime minister.
* Brazil suffered a record of 1188 daily coronavirus deaths on Thursday (local time) and is fast approaching Russia to become the world's No. 2 Covid-19 hot spot behind the United States.
The Vila Formosa cemetery, where the dead bodies of the coronavirus pandemic victims are buried in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: 2020 Anadolu Agency
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Coronavirus cases in Singapore topped 30,000 as the city-state reports hundreds of new infections in cramped migrant worker dormitories every day.
* Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be home quarantined for 14 days after an officer who attended a meeting with him this week tested positive for the coronavirus.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be home quarantined for 14 days. Photo: AFP PHOTO / MALAYSIA'S DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION/ NAZRI RAPAAI
* Japan's central bank created its own version of the US Federal Reserve's "Main Street" lending programme to channel more money to small businesses.
* Australia will save around A$60 billion on a coronavirus wage subsidy scheme after progress in controlling the outbreak and detected reporting halved the number of people expected to be covered by the scheme.
* Thailand will maintain its state of emergency over the coronavirus until the end of June, its Covid-19 task force said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africa could see up to 50,000 coronavirus deaths and as many as 3 million infections by the end of the year, scientific models showed on Thursday.
* Lebanon's Health Ministry reported 63 new cases, the largest single-day increase since the outbreak of the pandemic.
* The new coronavirus is believed to be spreading throughout Yemen where the health care system "has in effect collapsed", the United Nations said, appealing for urgent funding.
A Yemeni boy wearing a protective face mask is pictured in the capital Sanaa, during the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. Photo: AFP or licensors
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Oil prices tumbled and global equity markets wavered on Friday as China's move to impose a new security law on Hong Kong further strained U.S.-Sino relations and clouded economic recovery prospects.
* Unemployment rates rose and total employment fell in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia in April due to lockdowns, the Labor Department said.
* Britain has extended its mortgage payment holiday scheme for homeowners in financial difficulty for another three months.
* Billionaire financier George Soros cautioned the European Union's survival was threatened by the pandemic unless it can issue perpetual bonds to help weak members.
* China dropped its annual growth target for the first time and pledged more government spending as the Covid-19 pandemic hammers its economy.
