More than 458,000 people have died as a result of the new coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. At least 8.6 million people have been confirmed to have the coronavirus around the world and more than 4.2 million have recovered.
Here’s are the top 10 global developments this morning:
1. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of a “new and dangerous phase” in the accelerating coronavirus pandemic after 150,000 new cases were reported worldwide on Thursday – the highest in a single day.
2. Brazil passed one million coronavirus cases and approached 50,000 deaths, making it second only to the United States in both infections and deaths.
3. German biopharmaceutical company CureVac has started a clinical trial for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
4. Swiss drugmaker Novartis is halting its trial of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) against COVID-19 after struggling to find participants, it said on Friday, as data emerged from other studies raising doubts about the drug’s efficacy.
5. China’s capital recorded a further drop in new confirmed coronavirus cases as tightened measures to contain the spread remain in place.
Officials reported 22 new cases in Beijing, along with five others elsewhere in the country. No new deaths were reported and 308 people remain hospitalised for treatment for COVID-19.
6. Helen La Lime, the United Nations Special Representative for Haiti, said the coronavirus pandemic is worsening the country’s “already alarming humanitarian situation”, something that could see an increasing number of citizens flee the island to seek a better life abroad.
7. Authorities in Mexico City delayed a planned reopening of the economy as new confirmed cases and deaths reported nationwide continued at near-record levels.
8. Oklahoma’s Supreme Court rejected an effort to require everyone attending US President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa this weekend to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing to guard against spreading the coronavirus.
9. Costa Rica is halting the reopening of its economy after registering on Friday a record 119 new coronavirus infections – a figure that brings the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 2,508.
10. Brazil passed one million coronavirus cases and approached 50,000 deaths in a new nadir for the world’s second-worst-hit country.