Health

Thailand on Tuesday reported 34 new coronavirus cases and a death of a 52-year old Thai female bus driver in Bangkok.

Thais will have to find another way to cool off this year after the government called off the annual water festival that celebrates the Buddhist New Year to curb the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

AstraZeneca Plc said on Tuesday that it would start a clinical trial to assess the potential of Calquence in the treatment of the exaggerated immune response associated with COVID-19 infection in severely ill patients.

China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus as it battles to contain imported cases, especially from neighbouring Russia, the new "front line" in the war on COVID-19.

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a treatment developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Merck & Co Inc for a rare genetic disorder, the companies said on Tuesday.

Coronavirus tests can be difficult to come by in many countries including in hard-hit parts of the United States and Britain, but in Wuhan, the Chinese epicentre of the pandemic, they are fast, cheap and easy to get.

Germany's number of confirmed coronavirus infections has risen by 2,082 to 125,098, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday, marking the fourth decline in the number of new cases after four days of increases.

Ten U.S. governors on the east and west coasts banded together on Monday in two regional pacts to coordinate gradual economic reopenings as the coronavirus crisis finally appeared to be ebbing.

Wyoming reported its first death from the novel coronavirus on Monday, the final U.S. state to report a fatality from the outbreak.

U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 23,000 on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as officials said the worst may be over and the outbreak could reach its peak this week.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration was close to completing a plan to re-open the U.S. economy, which has been largely shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday said "the worst is over" for the state hit hardest by the novel coronavirus, as hospitalizations appeared to be reaching a plateau and deaths increased by 671, the lowest daily total in a week.

A total of 111 Africans in China's southern city of Guangzhou had tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Monday, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

China's northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks - with more than 90% involving people coming from abroad.

The coronavirus outbreak could reach its peak in the United States this week, a top U.S. health official said on Monday as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared "the worst is over" for his state, the U.S. epicenter of the virus.

France is going through "difficult times", President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, acknowledging that his country had not been sufficiently prepared early on to face the challenges posed by the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced he was extending a virtual lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak until May 11, adding that progress had been made but the battle not yet won.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised the country's efforts to contain the coronavirus on Monday but said there was no room for complacency before Orthodox Easter, when hundreds of thousands normally head to family gatherings.

Social distancing rules adopted to slow the spread of coronavirus by keeping people two metres apart will remain largely in place until an effective treatment or vaccine is available, Ireland's health minister said on Monday.