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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.

SoftBank Group Corp shares fell 3.5% on Tuesday morning after estimating the Vision Fund will record a 1.8 trillion yen ($16.73 billion) loss in the year ended March due to the tumbling value of bets on unproven startups.

As lockdowns worldwide drive a surge in internet use, boosting online sales for businesses as varied as gaming and food delivery, the stocks of internet providers are an unlikely laggard on global markets.

Amazon will begin to put new grocery delivery customers on a wait list and curtail shopping hours at some Whole Foods stores to prioritize orders from existing customers buying food online during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.

About 1.7 million people downloaded the new entertainment streaming app Quibi during its first week on the market, Chief Executive Meg Whitman told CNBC television on Monday.

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.

Ford Motor Co said on Monday it is producing face masks at a Michigan plant to protect its workers from the coronavirus pandemic and is seeking to have those masks certified for medical use.

South Africa has recorded 99 new coronavirus cases, taking the total in the country to 2,272, health minister Zweli Mkhike said on Monday.

The White House said on Monday that President Donald Trump was not firing U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci despite his retweet of a supporter's #FireFauci message.

The death toll in France from the new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 14,967 from 14,393 a day earlier, the French public health authority said on Monday.

Brazil's health minister urged the government to speak with a unified voice in its fight against the new coronavirus, effectively calling out President Jair Bolsonaro for downplaying the threat ahead of what are likely to be the two toughest months for the outbreak.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced confidence on Monday that the United States would continue funding his U.N. agency, despite President Donald Trump's criticism of WHO's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.