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Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.18 million globally and 147,265 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Friday.

The coronavirus outbreak in Germany has become manageable again as the number of patients who have recovered has been higher than the number of new infections every day this week, the health minister said on Friday.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha called on the country's 20 richest people on Friday to help in addressing the damaging economic fall-out from the coronavirus epidemic.

Singapore reported 623 new coronavirus cases on Friday taking the city-state's total infections to 5050.

Some U.S. life insurers are deciding not to gamble on older Americans during the coronavirus crisis by temporarily suspending applications from certain age groups or imposing tougher requirements.

The novel coronavirus has penetrated more deeply into Moscow's population than official data show, private testing results among people without symptoms suggest.

Indonesia reported on Friday 407 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number to 5,923 and surpassing the Philippines as the country with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc rose 10% in early trading on Friday after a report that patients with COVID-19 treated with the company's experimental drug, remdesivir, in a clinical trial showed rapid recovery in fever and respiratory symptoms.

A million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists are already being manufactured and will be available by September, even before trials prove whether the shot is effective, the team said on Friday.

For doctors in northern Italy, fighting what is still Europe's worst outbreak of COVID-19, the frontlines have moved beyond hospitals as special teams try to keep patients alive at home, away from the saturated wards where thousands have died.

Switzerland's government on Friday urged residents against complacency, saying they must keep their guard up even as the country's new coronavirus infection rate slows and lawmakers start relaxing restrictions to stem the disease's spread.

British health minister Matt Hancock said on Friday the rate of deaths due to COVID-19 in care homes was higher than 2%, adding he was concerned about how the novel coronavirus was spreading in places housing vulnerable people.

Britain has expanded the number of people who are eligible to be tested for COVID-19 to include the police, fire service, judiciary and others, health minister Matt Hancock said on Friday, in part of its efforts to widen its testing programme.

Britain's health minister said on Friday he would love to wave a magic wand to get large quantities of personal protective equipment for the health workers fighting the novel coronavirus outbreak but that there was a global shortage.

Some European countries have announced plans to ease restrictions on social life, transport and cross-border travel imposed since mid-March to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Saxony became the first German state to make the wearing of masks compulsory on public transport and in shops, German magazine Focus reported on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said China's role in the global coronavirus pandemic is likely to force countries to rethink their telecommunications infrastructure, including the adoption of China-based Huawei's 5G networks.

Didi Chuxing, China's biggest ride-hailing firm which counts SoftBank as an investor, aims to complete 100 million orders a day and have 800 million monthly active users globally by 2022, CEO Cheng Wei said.

Poland's telecoms regulator has dropped a deadline for its first 5G auction due a government clampdown designed to tackle the spread of the corononavirus.

Didi Chuxing, China's biggest ride-hailing firm which counts SoftBank as an investor, aims to complete 100 million orders a day and 800 million monthly active users globally by 2022, its chief executive Cheng Wei said.