Health

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to relax rules on outdoor dining and weddings, as well as speeding up government investment plans in a bid to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus, newspapers reported on Saturday.

British places of worship will reopen for individual prayer from June 15, after being closed to the public in March as part of the coronavirus lockdown, government minister Robert Jenrick said on Saturday.

A rapid growth of coronavirus infections among miners at Poland's state-run coal producer JSW boosted the increase in daily cases to the highest since May 12, data from the health ministry showed on Saturday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 1,891,690 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 29,034 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,128 to 109,192.

Indonesia reported on Saturday its biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections, with 993 new cases, taking its total number to 30,514, a health ministry official said.

Russia reported 8,855 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, pushing the total number of infections to 458,689.

India reported a record 9,887 new coronavirus cases in one day on Saturday and overtook Italy as the world's sixth-biggest outbreak, two days before the relaxing of a lockdown with the reopening of malls, restaurants and places of worship.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 407 to 183,678, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.

President Jair Bolsonaro threatened on Friday to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organization after the U.N. agency warned Latin American governments about the risk of lifting lockdowns before slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the region.

China recorded three new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as of the end of Friday, down from five the day before, the national health authority reported.

Brazil reported an additional 1,005 novel coronavirus deaths and 30,830 new cases over the last 24 hours, data released by the health ministry showed on Friday night.

Mexico's health ministry reported on Friday an additional 4,346 cases of the novel coronavirus in the country as well as 625 new deaths, bringing the country's confirmed total to 110,026 cases and 13,170 deaths.

Brazilian highway operator CCR SA said on Friday that vehicle traffic on its roads reached its highest level since mid-March, as state authorities throughout the nation begin to relax quarantine measures.

More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection by the coronavirus, according to a survey taken shortly after President Donald Trump publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat COVID-19.

The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its guidance on Friday to recommend that governments ask everyone to wear fabric face masks in public areas where there is a risk of transmission of COVID-19 to help reduce the spread of the pandemic disease.

British scientists halted a major drug trial on Friday after it found that the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential "game changer" in the pandemic, was "useless" at treating COVID-19 patients.

The World Health Organization is continuing its clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine, after British scientists halted a large trial that had been exploring use of the drug to treat patients with COVID-19 when initial results showed no evidence of benefit.

More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection by the coronavirus, according to a U.S. survey taken shortly after President Donald Trump publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat COVID-19.

France reported more coronavirus-linked deaths and cases on Friday, although a top health official said the respiratory disease caused by the new virus was under control.