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Britain's COVID-19 death toll neared 10,000 on Saturday after health officials reported another 917 hospital deaths, while one senior minister said Prime Minister Boris Johnson will need time off as he recovers from being seriously ill with the virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 492,416 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 33,251 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths rose by 1,989 to 18,559.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered top U.S. administration officials to help Italy in fighting the novel coronavirus by providing medical supplies, humanitarian relief and other assistance.

U.S. deaths due to the coronavirus surpassed 20,000 on Saturday, the highest reported number in the world, according to a Reuters tally, although there are signs the pandemic might be nearing a peak.

The fight against the novel coronavirus is a marathon not a sprint and lifting the lockdown may involve drugs and not just vaccines, the medical director of England's national health service said on Saturday.

The coronavirus death toll in English hospitals rose over the past 24 hours by 823 to a total of 8,937, health officials reported on Saturday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is making very good progress in his recovery from COVID-19, his office said on Saturday, as his health minister said the peak of the outbreak in Britain had not yet been reached.

More than 1.6 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 102,151 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT.

Political leaders and health experts urged Americans celebrating Good Friday and the Easter weekend under threat of the coronavirus to avoid church gatherings and observe the holidays at home as the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 18,600.

An American mother-of-three is a long-time member of "anti-vaxxer" groups online: a small but vocal global community that believes vaccines are a dangerous con and refuse to immunize themselves or their children.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was looking into reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again after initially testing negative for the disease while being considered for discharge.

The Philippines reported 26 new coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, taking the total to 247.

Malaysian health authorities reported 184 additional confirmed cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday, raising the cumulative tally to 4,530, the highest number for any country in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia confirmed 330 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, taking its tally to 3,842, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

Most of Thailand's provinces have banned sales of alcoholic beverages, heeding a central government call to discourage festive celebrations for the Thai New Year as the country seeks to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Russia reported 1,667 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the national tally of confirmed cases to 13,584.

Siemens will not cut its workforce because of the economic downturn triggered by the new coronavirus, Chief Executive Joe Kaeser said, although short-time working measures could be extended in Germany.

Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday that they will work together to create contact tracing technology that aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus by allowing users to opt into logging other phones they have been near.

Germany's number of confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 4,133 on Saturday to 117,658, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.

New Zealand said on Saturday there had been two new deaths due to the coronavirus - its biggest daily total to date despite the low number and bringing the total to four in a country that's halfway through a four-week nationwide lockdown.