Health

The world is looking for signs that the arrival of warmer weather in the northern hemisphere could slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 190,000 people and sent the global economy into a tailspin as countries impose lockdowns and restrict travel.

With the U.S. coronavirus death toll topping 50,000, Georgia, Oklahoma and a handful of other states took the first tentative steps at reopening for business on Friday, despite the disapproval of President Donald Trump and health experts.

With much of the world living in lockdown, the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that was first detected in China late last year is beginning to slow in some places. As of April 23, 2.7 million had been infected and 192,000 killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The United States will send ventilators to three countries in Latin America - Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras - as well as to Indonesia, President Donald Trump said on Friday, as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated countries around the world.

Some 12 workers at a Brazilian chicken plant operated by JBS SA have contracted COVID-19, a source close to the company told Reuters on Friday on condition of anonymity.

Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.73 million globally and 191,470 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Friday.

Twitter Inc said on Friday that video clips of U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that scientists investigate inserting light or disinfectant into coronavirus patients did not violate its COVID-19 misinformation policy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 865,585 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 37,144 from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 2,437 to 48,816.

Ecuador's confirmed coronavirus cases more than doubled to a total of 22,719 after the government released a batch of delayed test results, the Andean country's interior minister said on Friday.

In the shade of a rust-colored hill, a dozen women gathered on a dusty road to fill buckets from a water tanker truck that pulled up to service their modest community built on a former Mexico City dump.

Tests in the wider Moscow region to see if people are carrying coronavirus antibodies suggest that as many as one in 10 residents may have been infected, a government project said on Friday.

Global leaders joined the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday to launch an initiative to accelerate work on drugs, tests and vaccines against COVID-19 and to share them around the world.

Paraguay will ease its coronavirus lockdown in May, replacing its currently tough sanctions with a "smart quarantine" after the South American country became one of the most successful in the region to stem the spread of the pandemic.

Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.7 million globally and 189,970 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 0200 GMT on Friday.

Hungary plans to replace the current lockdown that imposes a blanket curfew over the population with a more fine-tuned version from early May, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday.

Thailand reported on Friday 15 new coronavirus cases and no new deaths, bringing the total number of cases since its outbreak in January to 2,854 cases and 50 deaths.

As many as 91 crew of an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan's southwestern port of Nagasaki are infected with coronavirus, officials said on Friday, as questions persist over how and when they will return to their home countries.

The coronavirus appears to weaken more quickly when exposed to sunlight, heat and humidity, a U.S. official said on Thursday in a potential sign that the pandemic could become less contagious in summer months.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 2,337 to 150,383, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday - a slight deceleration after three straight days of new infections accelerating.

California recorded 115 deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the state's deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday.