As of Saturday morning, there were almost 10 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 494,000 deaths.
Here's the latest from around the world overnight.
Americas
United States
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported 2,414,870 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 40,588 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 2516 to 124,325.
US President Donald Trump on Friday canceled a planned weekend visit to his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, the White House said in an updated schedule. The White House did not provide a reason for the cancellation, which comes amid a spike in novel coronavirus cases in many states.
Sixteen NBA players tested positive for COVID-19, the league said on Friday, a little over a month before the 2020 season is set to resume in Florida on the same day the state reported a record of almost 9000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours.
Trump's administration petitioned the US Supreme Court to invalidate the Obamacare law introduced by his predecessor that added millions to the healthcare safety net, seeking to scrap coverage during the novel coronavirus crisis. Democrats blasted the move as cruel and immoral, particularly amid the outbreak.
Mexico
Mexico's health ministry on Thursday (June 25) reported 6,104 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 736 deaths, bringing the nation's total known infections to 202,951 and 25,060 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infections is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases. Mexico is the seventh country with most virus-related deaths in the world, according to a Reuters tally.
Europe
Spain
Spanish virologists have found traces of the novel coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before the COVID-19 disease was identified in China, the University of Barcelona said on Friday.
The discovery of virus genome presence so early in Spain, if confirmed, would imply the disease may have appeared much earlier than the scientific community thought.
France
France reported more than 1500 new confirmed novel coronavirus cases on Friday, a spike unseen since May 30, while the number of additional fatalities linked to the virus rose by the highest amount in three days.
French health authorities said in a statement the total of newly confirmed infections rose by 1588, way above both the daily average of 498 seen over the last seven days and the 430 daily average since the beginning of June.
Asia
China
Beijing reported 11 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, three suspected cases and one asymptomatic case on Thursday, a local official said on Friday.
Africa and Middle East
South Africa
South Africa will allow casinos and cinemas to reopen and restaurants to resume sit-down meals on Monday in a further easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions despite a sharp rise in infections.
The country began easing restrictions put in place in March last month and at the beginning of June allowed people outside for work, worship, exercise or shopping, and let mines and factories to run at full capacity to try to revive the economy.
It has recorded 118,375 infections of the highly contagious respiratory disease and 2292 deaths and daily case numbers rose by more than 6500 on Thursday after less than 1000 in April.
But tourism is an important revenue-earner and three months of lockdown has left many businesses fighting for survival.
Medical developments
Vaccine race
AstraZeneca's experimental COVID-19 vaccine is probably the world's leading candidate and most advanced in terms of development, the World Health Organization's chief scientist said on Friday.
The British drugmaker has already begun large-scale, mid-stage human trials of the vaccine, which was developed by researchers at University of Oxford.
Early days for research
Scientists are only starting to grasp the vast array of health problems caused by the novel coronavirus, some of which may have lingering effects on patients and health systems for years to come, according to doctors and infectious disease experts.
Besides the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, the virus that causes COVID-19 attacks many organ systems, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.
"We thought this was only a respiratory virus," said Dr Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California. "Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didn't appreciate that in the beginning."
A World Health Organization-led coalition fighting the COVID-19 pandemic is asking government and private sector donors to help raise $31.3 billion in the next 12 months to develop and deliver tests, treatments and vaccines for the disease.
Reuters / Newshub.
