A woman wearing a face mask pushes a shopping trolley at the empty Callao square in Madrid, Spain, April 1, 2020. (JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

MEXICO CITY / MOSCOW / OTTAWA / BOGOTA / LOS ANGELES / BRUSSELS / MADRID / PARIS / BRASILIA / NICOSIA / ATHENS / LONDON / KIGALI / CAPE TOWN / BERLIN / WARSAW / MILAN / DUBLIN - Spain's death toll from the coronavirus surpassed the 10,000 threshold after a record 950 people died overnight, the country's Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The total death toll reached 10,003, rising by just over 10 percent, about the same rate as the previous day.

The number of cases registered rose by about 8 percent from Wednesday to 110,238, the ministry said. The proportional daily increases have been slowing down in the past few days.

The total death toll reached 10,003, after a record 950 people died overnight, the Health Ministry said

Spain, which has the world's second highest death toll from the disease after Italy, has banned all but essential outings since March 14. This week it further tightened the lockdown with a ban on all but essential workers leaving home to go to work.

ALSO READ: Europeans face Easter indoors as Spain suffers deadliest day

The number of jobless in March jumped 9.3 percent from the previous month bringing the total number of unemployed people to around 3.5 million. 

While that total number was still below record highs of 2013, Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said that the rise is the highest monthly increase ever recorded.

Spain has so far processed temporary layoff applications for at least 620,000 workers since the country imposed a nationwide lockdown in mid March, Diaz said. She added that not all of Spain's regions have reported detailed data, indicating the true figure could be higher.

Social security data showed 898,822 Spaniards have now lost their jobs since the start of the lockdown, including around 550,000 temporary workers.

US virus infections top 200,000, Europe cases near 500,000

The coronavirus pandemic is showing no sign of abating as a global tally indicated on Wednesday that Europe's number of infection cases was approaching 500,000 and the death toll topped 30,000.

Globally, the number of coronavirus cases crossed the 910,000 mark as of 1850 GMT on Wednesday, while combined infections in Europe were close to 500,000, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the spread of COVID-19 in real-time.

Globally, the number of coronavirus cases crossed the 910,000 mark as of 1850 GMT on Wednesday, while combined infections in Europe were close to 500,000, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University

The United States became the first nation with more than 200,000 COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, according to a tally by the university.

The death toll in the US reached 5,119, and the total number of confirmed cases has exceeded 215,000, the tally updated by the university's Center for Systems Science and Engineering showed.

"In the next few days we will reach 1 million confirmed cases, and 50,000 deaths," the chief of World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The United Nations warned of potentially “dire” long-term effects of the coronavirus outbreak on countries and the global economy and called for greater international cooperation to fight the pandemic.

“COVID-19 is the greatest test that we have faced together since the formation of the United Nations,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as he launched a report this week to address responses to the crisis. The UN was founded 75 years ago, after World War II.

Guterres said he was particularly concerned for Africa and urged developed countries to do more for less prepared nations.

The marquee for the Iowa Theater, closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, is seen on John Wayne Drive in Winterset, Iowa, April 1, 2020. (CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / AP)

US

Four new states imposed sweeping stay-at-home directives on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus pandemic, putting over 80 percent of Americans under lockdown as the number of deaths and cases in the United States soared to new daily highs for the fourth day in a row.

The governors of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Nevada each instituted the strict policies on a day where the toll in the United States jumped by at least 884 over the past 24 hours, setting a new one-day record for the country, according to Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday evening. So far, the death toll the United States stands at 5,119.

President Donald Trump said he saw no need for the federal government to issue a nationwide decree, with 39 states and the District of Columbia now requiring residents to stay home except for essential outings to the doctor or grocery store.

He also said at a White House briefing on Wednesday he was considering a plan to halt flights to coronavirus hot spots.

READ MORE: New York robbed of its hustle and bustle

Meanwhile, Guam Governor Leon Guerrero said Thursday that she decided to allow sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt to leave the military base and be quarantined in hotels on the island, after the Navy asked for help to deal with the spread of COVID-19 on the aircraft carrier.

A day before, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the US Navy was evacuating thousands of sailors from the aircraft carrier.

According to Modly, 93 people had tested positive for the virus on board the Roosevelt so far. Nearly 1,300 out of the total 2,700 crew members have been tested, and 593 have tested negative so far.

Separately, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Fox News that Broward County would likely allow two cruise ships with coronavirus outbreaks carrying a total of 2,500 people to dock in Fort Lauderdale, despite his misgivings about potentially contagious foreign nationals.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 73,522 while 872 people have died of the disease, statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

Cases rose by 6,156 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 140, the tally showed.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Germany will extend social distancing measures introduced last month to slow the spread of the coronavirus to April 19 and the government will re-evaluate the situation after the Easter holiday.

Merkel said she did not want to lift social distancing measures too early only to have to reintroduce them.

Merkel was upbeat on the possible launch of a voluntary tracking app for the time after social distancing measures are lifted, saying if tests prove successful, she would support it.

Poland

Poland may face a peak in coronavirus infections in April, government spokesman Piotr Muller told state radio on Thursday, adding that further curbs on people's movements could not be ruled out.

By Wednesday, 2,554 people had been infected with the virus, with 43 dead in the country of 38 million people.

Russia

Russia's coronavirus case tally jumped to 3,548 on Thursday, a record daily increase of 771, Russia's crisis response center said.

Cases have been recorded in 76 of Russia's more than 80 regions, but Moscow remains the epicenter of the outbreak with 595 cases, the center said. Thirty people have died across the country, it said.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed into law a bill granting the cabinet additional powers, including declaring a state of emergency for the entire country.

The law, published on the official legal information portal, is aimed at dealing with the coronavirus.

The president also signed other bills into laws, increasing the liabilities for the breaches of sanitary-epidemiological rules and quarantine.

Volunteers give a face mask to a food delivery courier in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 1, 2020. (DMITRI LOVETSKY / AP)

Meanwhile, Russia has earmarked nearly US$18 billion to fight the spread of the coronavirus and its economic fallout, its prime minister said.

Also on Wednesday, Russia sent the United States medical equipment to help fight the pandemic.

"Trump gratefully accepted this humanitarian aid," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying by the Interfax news agency on Tuesday. Trump himself spoke enthusiastically about the Russian help after his call with Putin.

A US official in Washington said the shipment carried 60 tons of ventilators, masks, respirators and other items.

Ireland

The highly restrictive measures Ireland put in place last week to slow the spread of the coronavirus may well be extended beyond the initial deadline of April 12, Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said on Thursday.

Ireland's prime minister significantly ramped up previous restrictions last Friday when he ordered citizens to stay home and only leave to shop for groceries, for brief individual physical exercise or make absolutely essential family visits.

France

France became the fourth country to pass the 4,000 coronavirus deaths threshold on Wednesday, after Italy, Spain and the United States, as the government scrambles to stay ahead of the curve regarding ventilator-equipped beds that are quickly filling up.

Five hundred and seventy people have died in nursing homes in France's eastern region since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the regional public health authority said late on Wednesday.

"As of March 31, 411 nursing homes have been affected by COVID-19 out of 620 in the region," the Grand-Est Public Health Authority said in a statement. 

A total of 509 patients have died of the coronavirus in French hospitals in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll to 4,032 since the start of the epidemic, Director General of Health Jerome Salomon announced on Wednesday.

A total of 56,989 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the epidemic. Among them, 24,639 are now hospitalized, an increase of 1,882 from Tuesday. Some 6,000 are in intensive care, an increase of 462.

Speaking by videoconference in front of a parliament committee created to hold the government accountable for the way it handles the crisis, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the current lockdown would likely be unwound gradually rather than in one go, without indicating when the government might start to ease or completely lift the lockdown.

Italy

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Rome would not nationalize businesses during the coronavirus crisis on Thursday as the European Commission's head promised affected countries up to 100 billion euros (US$110 billion), starting with Italy.

Rome has the option of using "golden powers" which give the government the right to veto stake building in strategic industries and Conte reiterated he would use such instruments.

At the moment, the golden powers apply to companies in the infrastructure, defense, energy and telecoms industries, but Rome is considering extending them to other sectors.

Conte added that he would like a planned second emergency decree that will include additional measures to mitigate the impact of the health crisis on Italy's economy to be passed before the Easter holiday in mid-April.

Italy registered a total of 110,574 coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, while the death toll stood at 13,155, according to fresh figures released by the Civil Protection Department managing the national emergency response.

READ MORE: Glimmer of hope for cases trend in Italy

The number of people who have recovered increased by 1,118 to 16,847.

A runner makes his way through the empty streets of Old Montreal in Quebec, Canada, April 1, 2020. (RYAN REMIORZ / THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP)

Canada

Personal protective equipment stockpiled in Canada is not enough when the COVID-19 pandemic is raging in the world, Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Wednesday.

Hajdu made the remarks hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that no one can guarantee that the federal emergency strategic stockpiles would be sufficient to cover the ever growing need for masks, ventilators and other supplies.

Separately, Trudeau called for a "Team Canada effort" to beat the coronavirus outbreak, saying Parliament should be brought back so all legislators could approve a massive aid package.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the steps proposed so far totaled over C$105 billion (US$74 billion) in direct spending, or about 5 percent of gross domestic product. Ottawa has also promised to defer C$85 billion in personal and business taxes.

The number of deaths in Canada jumped to 112 from 89 on Tuesday, with confirmed cases rising to 9,560 from 7,708, according to a tally of provincial announcements compiled by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

UK

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised on Wednesday to ramp up testing for coronavirus, saying it was the key to defeating the outbreak after his government faced criticism for testing much fewer people than some of its European peers.

Johnson's promise followed pledges from his ministers to accelerate testing in the days and weeks ahead after a slew of sometimes contradictory statements on the numbers already checked.

While Germany has been testing about 500,000 people a week, Britain's current capacity is just about 12,750 a day, a figure the government said it was aiming to double by mid-April.

The UK’s coronoavirus death toll rose 24 percent to 2,921 as of April 1.

As of 0800 GMT on April 2, a total of 163,194 people had been tested of which 33,718 tested positive, the health ministry said.

“Of those hospitalized in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 2,921 have sadly died,” the ministry said.

NHS England said that of the 561 people who died in English hospitals in the previous 24-hour cycle, 44 had no underlying health conditions. The age range of those without underlying health conditions was 25 to 100 years old.

This photo shows a large advertising display issued by the National Health Service asking people to stay at home as they fight the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. In London, on April 1, 2020. (KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH / AP)

Portugal

Portugal's government cleared the way on Wednesday for extending the state of emergency by 15 days to combat the spread of the coronavirus as the number of deaths nears 200.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the country may be facing "one, two, three months" of restrictions on movement of people.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declared a 15-day nationwide state of emergency on March 18, which restricted non-essential travel and led thousands of businesses to close their doors.

Portugal has confirmed 9,034 coronavirus cases and 209 deaths, with health authorities expecting the outbreak to plateau at the end of May.

Colombia

Paramedics, doctors and nurses took to the streets of Colombia's capital, Bogota, in ambulances with sirens blaring on Wednesday to show their support for colleagues and protest what they say are salary delays amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The health workers, escorted by police, stopped in front of a clinic in the north of the city to applaud colleagues working inside.

There are over 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Andean country, and 17 people have died of the disease.

The government has announced more than US$1.47 billion in funding to help facilities cope with coronavirus, but employees say that money has not reached workers.

Health professionals in other cities have also decried late salary payments.

Panama

Panama's health ministry reported on Wednesday 1,317 coronavirus cases, an increase of 136 cases, and 32 deaths in the Central American country.

Cyprus

Cyprus extended a ban on commercial air links with 28 countries for another two weeks on Thursday to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The ban, introduced on March 21 for a 14 day period, would be in effect for a further 14 days, Cypriot transport minister Yiannis Karousos said in a tweet. He said the decision was dictated by the situation in Cyprus, and the "dramatic" situation in other European states.

Cyprus has recorded 320 coronavirus cases and nine deaths.

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday said it had registered 37 deaths from coronavirus, up from 29 a day earlier. 

It also said that the number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to 1,378 from 1,215 the previous day.

The Mexican foreign ministry urged Mexican residents in the United States to avoid visiting relatives in Mexico so as to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, authorities said that a Guatemalan migrant has died and 14 others were taken to hospital after a riot broke out in a detention center in southern Mexico, as tensions rise in such facilities due to the spread of the coronavirus.

READ MORE: World's busiest border falls quiet with Mexicans barred from US

A policeman gives a squirt of antibacterial gel to a pedestrian in the historic center of Mexico City, April 1, 2020. (MARCO UGARTE / AP)

Serbia

A senior official in Serbia's government died from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a health official said, the second death of a public figure from the disease in the Balkan country.

Branislav Blazic, 63, a state secretary with the Ministry for Environmental Protection, died only days after being hospitalised with symptoms of the coronavirus infection, said Daria Kisic Tepavcevic, the deputy director of the Institute for Public Health.

Serbia reported 160 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with five more deaths, the government stated in a press release.

According to data from the Institute for Public Health in Belgrade, the country has so far confirmed 1,060 cases out of 4,371 tested patients.

Brazil

The number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Brazil is very worrying, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said on Wednesday, expressing growing concern about the country's supply of protective equipment, medical equipment and ventilators.

Brazil, the Latin American country hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, has reported 6,836 cases as well as 240 deaths from the virus as of Wednesday.

The number of confirmed cases is lower so far than the actual number of those infected, he said, adding the health of Brazil's indigenous people, whose habits may facilitate the spread of the virus, is also a big concern.

An indigenous woman in a village deep in the Amazon rainforest has contracted the virus, the first case reported among Brazil's more than 300 tribes, the Health Ministry's indigenous health service Sesai said.

In a bid to tackle the crisis, the Brazilian government unveiled a new initiative to systematically detect COVID-19 infections among the population.

The Health Ministry will robocall 125 million people, 60 percent of the total, asking them questions about their state of health.

Depending on the answers, the software will determine whether medical attention is needed.

Argentina

Argentina's health ministry said late on Wednesday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country had reached 1,133 with 32 fatalities, including a 66-year-old Chilean man in Santa Fe.

Separately, Chile's Foreign Ministry annoucned that a Chilean consul in the Argentine grains hub city of Rosario has died after being infected by the coronavirus.

The Chilean Foreign Ministry earlier this week said that diplomat Fernando Labra, who was in his sixties, had contracted COVID-19. 

An empty Monastiraki square, usually the most crowded area in central Athens, Greece, on April 1, 2020, amid a lockdown ordered by the Greek government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (THANASSIS STAVRAKIS / AP)

Greece

Greece has quarantined a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for the coronavirus, the migration ministry said on Thursday.

Tests on 63 people were conducted after a 19-year-old female migrant who gave birth in hospital in Athens was found infected, becoming the first recorded case among thousands of asylum seekers kept in overcrowded migrant camps across the country.

Any movement in and out of the Ritsona camp, which is 75 kilometers northeast of Athens and hosts up to 2,500 people, will be restricted for 14 days the ministry said, adding that police would monitor the implementation of the measures.

Greece, which recorded its first coronavirus case at the end of February, has reported 1,415 cases so far. Fifty people have died.

As part of measures to contain the epidemic, Greece will also ban the flights of private aircrafts and helicopters, Nikos Hardalias, deputy minister for Civil Protection and Crises Management at the Ministry of Citizen Protection said Wednesday.

In March, authorities suspended or restricted air, road, sea and train connections with many countries, such as Britain, Spain, Italy and Turkey. 

Rwanda

The Rwandan cabinet on Wednesday extended the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 for two weeks until April 19, as the country's total confirmed cases reached 82.

The landlocked country has been placed under lockdown since March 21, which bans unnecessary movements and visits outside home and orders the closure of borders.

The borders will remain closed, except for goods and cargo as well as returning Rwandan citizens and legal residents, according to a communique by the prime minister's office.

Togo

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe on Wednesday declared a three-month nationwide health emergency and major socio-economic measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement came as Togo reported 36 cases, of which 24 were under medical treatment, 10 had recovered while the other two had died. 

Gnassingbe declared a nationwide curfew between 7 pm and 6 am local time starting from Thursday until further notice, and set up an anti-pandemic special unit of 5,000 people from defense and security forces to observe the measures to fight the epidemic.

A national fund of 400 billion CFA francs (about US$665 million) has been allocated to carry out socio-economic measures, Gnassingbe said.

Cuba

The Cuban Communist Party (PCC) has announced the cancelation of the upcoming May Day celebration marking the International Workers' Day in light of the spread of COVID-19 on the island, local media reported Wednesday.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the PCC, presided over by First Secretary of the PCC Raul Castro.

Massive gatherings on the occasion of the International Workers' Day are customary all over the country since the socialist revolution victory in 1959.

Cuba has so far confirmed 212 cases of COVID-19.  

READ MORE: Cuba condemns US blocking of Alibaba donation amid virus outbreak

South Africa

South Africa on Wednesday launched dozens of mobile sampling and testing units for COVID-19, in a bid to scale up the capacity of testing as more cases were reported nationwide.

The National Health Laboratory has purchased 60 mobile sampling and testing units to be deployed nationwide, by which medical workers will go out to test citizens for COVID-19, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

The move came as 27 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, bringing the total to 1,380, with five deaths.

Homeless people in Cape Town, South Africa, are housed in tents at a shelter on April 1, 2020, as the country continued a nationwide 21 days lockdown in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus. (NARDUS ENGELBRECHT / AP)

Switzerland

The Swiss government on Wednesday said that it has decided to provide additional financial package aimed at supporting the small independent businesses, especially those self-employed, during the current COVID-19 crisis.

The Swiss death toll from the coronavirus epidemic has risen to 432, the country's public health agency said here on Thursday, from 378 people on Wednesday.

The number of positive tests increased to 18,267 from 17,139, it said.

Algeria

Algeria on Wednesday extended the measures of partial lockdown to 15 provinces in a move to stop the spread of COVID-19, APS news agency quoted a statement of the Prime Minister Office as saying.

The extension will begin on Thursday, and individuals and vehicles are banned from movement from 7 pm to 7 am for 17 days, APS reported.

A total of 14 new deaths and 131 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported over the last 24 hours.

Head of the COVID-19 Detection and Follow-up Commission Djamel Fourar told reporters that the total death toll has soared to 58, while the overall cases hit 847.

Meanwhile, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Wednesday issued presidential pardon for 5,037 prisoners, the presidency said in a statement.

Egypt

The Egyptian Health Ministry announced on Wednesday 69 new cases of COVID-19 and six new deaths, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 779, including 52 deaths.

Twenty-two people have recovered and were discharged from hospital on Wednesday, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement, adding that a total of 179 people have recovered.

Botswana

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has tested negative for COVID-19 and was released from quarantine on Wednesday, according to the president's office.

Health authorities in Botswana placed Masisi under a 14-day self-isolation on March 21, after his emergency trip to Namibia for a meeting with other regional leaders to discuss measures against the spread of COVID-19.

As of April 1, the country has registered four COVID-19 cases, including one death.

Tunisia

The Tunisian health authorities on Wednesday reported 30 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the country to 423.

Following 550 lab tests, 30 new cases were confirmed to be infected with the virus, said Nissaf Ben Alaya, director general of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases at a press briefing.

Ben Alaya revealed that there are 5 recovered patients and 12 deaths.

Morocco

The death toll from the coronavirus on Wednesday reached 37 in Morocco among the 642 confirmed cases, the Ministry of Health said.

A total of 26 patients have recovered from COVID-19, said the ministry's spokesman in a briefing.

A total of 100,000 rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 are currently being acquired by the North African country, the spokesman added.

Uganda

Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda on Wednesday said the government will on Saturday start to distribute relief food to the most vulnerable urban poor affected by the lockdown to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Rugunda told parliament that the ministry of relief and disaster preparedness will provide food to at least 1.5 million people, including the elderly, sickly, and commuter taxi drivers in the capital Kampala and central district of Wakiso.

The country currently has 44 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the ministry of health.

Denmark

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 3,107 in Denmark on Wednesday, while the death toll increased by 14 to 104, according to the Danish State Serum Institute (SSI).

Among the infected patients are 224 state employees, mostly health care workers, in the Capital Region and surrounding Zealand Region.

Kenya

Kenya's health ministry on Wednesday confirmed that two more people who had been under quarantine have tested negative to coronavirus, bringing the total number of those who have fully recovered from the virus to three.

Mutahi Kagwe, cabinet secretary for health said that the two cases are proof that quarantine is working and is the solution to containing the spread of the virus.

The country has so far confirmed 81 cases.

Czech Republic

The Czech government will ask parliament to extend a state of emergency in the country by 30 days beyond the current 30-day period ending on April 11, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Wednesday.

Albania

Albanian schools, cafes, restaurants and other public venues will remain shut and restrictions on social and economic activity will stay in place till the end of the coronavirus outbreak, Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu said on Wednesday.

The order effectively extends a lockdown, in force since mid-March, that had been due to end on April 3.

The Health Ministry reported 16 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total in the small Balkan nation of 2.8 million people to 259, though of those only 79 are in hospital and just four need assistance in breathing.

The death toll stands at 15.

Belgium

Hospitals in the Belgian capital called on the federal government on Wednesday to address a shortage of medicines and equipment, as COVID-19 patients continue to arrive at intensive care units that are starting to fill up.

Some 4,995 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms in the country, meaning around half of the health services' capacity has been taken up treating the disease. 

The health ministry says it expects the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 to peak in the coming days and weeks.

Belgium's health ministry announced earlier on Wednesday that its stock of drugs such as curare, a drug to relax muscles of intubated patients, would last until mid-April.

The country reported its death toll rose by 123 to a total of 828 people on Wednesday, and its number of cases was up 1,189 to 13,964. Officials said the nation's testing capacity would reach 10,000 daily by the end of the week.