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An Apple collaboration with Google will make it quicker to get systems for tracing coronavirus infections up and running, the prime mover behind a European effort to support the smartphone technology says.

Valuations of Chinese unicorns have fallen below levels reached in the firms' most-recent fundraising rounds, secondary market offerings by existing investors show, highlighting the strain on backers amid the coronavirus outbreak and volatile markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday halted funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, drawing condemnation from infectious disease experts as the global death toll mounted.

The Japanese city of Osaka has issued an urgent plea for citizens to donate plastic raincoats to hospitals running short of protective gear for staff treating coronavirus patients, with some doctors resorting to wearing garbage bags.

The world will need more than one COVID-19 vaccine so drug companies must partner in the race to develop the weapons to fight the novel coronavirus, GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley said on Wednesday.

Standard Chartered Plc is the first major global bank to tell employees not to use Zoom Video Communications Inc during the coronavirus pandemic due to cybersecurity concerns, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

Kromek, a global supplier of medical devices, plans to start the manufacturer of medical ventilators in Britain and globally under a licence from Japan's Metran to support the fight against COVID-19.

More than 1.97 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 128,445 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 02:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Airbnb, whose home rental business is suffering as the coronavirus pandemic freezes global travel, has secured a new $1 billion loan just days after closing a $1 billion debt deal, the company said on Tuesday.

Japan's death toll from the novel coronavirus could reach 400,000 without measures to stem the contagion, according to a health ministry projection reported by local media.

Thailand reported 30 new coronavirus cases and 2 deaths on Wednesday.

Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it has expanded manufacturing capacity to "significantly increase" production of its anti-flu drug Avigan that is being tested as a treatment for COVID-19.

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc's China car registrations jumped 450% in March, month on month, data from auto consultancy LMC Automotive showed.

Contact tracing has been used for decades to control the spread of infectious diseases. The basic idea is simple: track down infected people, then find everyone who has been near them and encourage those people to stay home until it is clear they are not sick.

China reported on Wednesday a decline in new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the mainland, although an increasing number of local transmissions in its far northeast bordering Russia remained a concern for authorities.

The coronavirus outbreak will have no impact on the progress of nuclear power plant construction in China in the short term, and reactors already in operation have not been affected, a nuclear safety official said on Wednesday.

New York City, the hardest hit U.S. city in the coronavirus pandemic, revised its official COVID-19 death toll sharply higher to more than 10,000 on Tuesday, to include victims presumed to have perished from the lung disease but never tested.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the global crisis.

Airbnb, whose home rental business is suffering as the coronavirus pandemic freezes global travel, has secured a new $1 billion loan just days after closing a $1 billion debt deal, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The total number of people hospitalized in New York fell for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, a further sign the state at the epicenter may be at the peak of its crisis, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.