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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday that a recent drop in hospitalizations and other improving metrics indicated the state may be past the peak of its coronavirus crisis and on a path toward stabilizing its battered healthcare system.

France registered 642 more deaths from coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the total to 19,323, the fourth-highest tally in the world, although the number of people in hospital declined for a fourth day running.

As some U.S. states look to start reopening their coronavirus-battered economies amid protests from supporters of President Donald Trump anxious to get back to work, hardest hit New York state began mandating the wearing of masks or face coverings in public to contain the pathogen's spread.

Spain's death toll from coronavirus rose at a slower pace on Saturday but surpassed 20,000 fatalities as the government mulled whether to ask parliament for a third extension of the confinement imposed in one of the world's hardest hit countries.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 482 on Saturday, the lowest daily increase since April 12, while the number of new cases was stable at 3,491, the Civil Protection Agency said.

Reverend Manuel Dorantes closed his eyes, took a breath to calm his fear and prayed when word came that Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich had put out a call for volunteers.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has had some contact with ministers while he is recovering from COVID-19, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Saturday.

Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.26 million globally and 154,613 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Saturday.

Hundreds of workers poured onto the streets of Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong on Saturday, flouting social distancing rules to demand work and wages during the coronavirus shutdown.

Greece is no longer the black sheep of Europe, having shown discipline and resilience in its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

France will try to avoid setting different rules for older people and other forms of discrimination once the government starts easing its coronavirus confinement measures, the French President's office said.

Croatia is extending its coronavirus lockdown for another 15 days, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Saturday, but added the government was looking at whether it was possible to gradually ease restrictions on movement.

Prague Airport and a regional Czech hospital said on Saturday they had thwarted cyber attacks on their IT networks, reinforcing warnings by the national cyber security watchdog of likely attempts to harm the country's infrastructure.

A European technology platform to support smartphone apps that can help trace people at risk of infection by the new coronavirus is gaining support from governments, one of its prime movers said on Friday.

A European technology platform to support smartphone apps that can help trace people at risk of infection by the new coronavirus is gaining support from governments, one of its prime movers said on Friday.

The United Arab Emirates will fine people up to 20,000 dirhams ($5,500) if they share medical information about the coronavirus that contradicts official statements, state news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

The Swiss death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 1,111 people, the country's public health agency said on Saturday, rising from 1,059 a day earlier.

Confirmed coronavirus infections in the Netherlands have risen by 1,140 to 31,589, Dutch health authorities said on Saturday.

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 Friday, 2.18 million people had been infected and 147,000 killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The U.S. economy has imploded in the past month amid aggressive measures to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, with 22 million people filing for unemployment benefits and most factories, stores and other businesses at a virtual standstill.