Workers are swabbed at a drive-in facility to test for the novel coronavirus, set up in the carpark of Chessington World of Adventures in Chessington, London on April 3, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

WASHINGTON / NEW YORK / JOHANNESBURG / LIMA / SAO PAULO / ROME / ALGIERS / CAIRO / LONDON / PARIS / OTTAWA / SAN JOSE / PRAGUE / BERLIN / BUDAPEST / MEXICO CITY / RABAT / ZAGREB / TIRANA / STOCKHOLM / NICOSIA / MOSCOW - The UK government apologized after a new booking website for coronavirus tests ran out of supply within minutes of opening.

The web portal launched on Friday as part of the government’s plan for a massive expansion of the numbers of people who are tested for Covid-19, following weeks of criticism over ministers’ response to the crisis.

But the 5,000 home testing kits that were available on the first day of the program were snapped up within two minutes, UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack, told reporters on a conference call Friday. The portal closed for applications once another 15,000 testing slots available at drive-through centers had been allocated, he said.

The surge in online applications shows the scale of the government’s challenge in meeting the demand for virus tests, after weeks of pressure to expand its testing regime. Officials gave up on testing and tracing confirmed cases in the community on March 12 to focus on confirming the infection in hospital patients. Ministers faced growing calls to reverse that decision and have been trying to make up lost ground ever since.

The government is now scrambling to meet a pledge made at the beginning of April to increase testing tenfold to 100,000 a day. While capacity is now up to 51,000, the number of tests carried out have fallen well short of that, with the most recent daily data showing fewer than 24,000 done on April 22.

The death toll from the new coronavirus in hospitals across the United Kingdom has risen to 19,506, an increase of 684 in 24 hours, the latest data from the health ministry showed on Friday.

The country now has 143,464 confirmed cases of the virus, up 5,386 in a day.

A health worker checks the temperature of a man queuing on a soccer field to be screened and tested for COVID-19, at Lenasia South in south Johannesburg, South Africa, April 21, 2020. (THEMBA HADEBE / AP)

South Africa

South Africa’s government will next week begin easing a nationwide lockdown that’s devastated the economy, while retaining a raft of restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The country will move from the maximum disease-alert level 5 to a national level 4 on May 1, allowing the phased reopening of some businesses and industries subject to strict precautions, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday in a televised address to the nation.

The country will move from the maximum disease-alert level 5 to a national level 4 on May 1, allowing the phased reopening of some businesses and industries subject to strict precautions, President Ramaphosa said

A maximum of one-third of workers will be allowed to return to work. Government ministers will give details of the easing in coming days, and industry groups will be invited to comment.

ALSO READ: Millions face hunger as African cities impose virus lockdowns

Ramaphosa said the nation’s borders will remain closed, travel between provinces is banned, no large gatherings other than funerals will be allowed and bars must stay closed. Restrictions on the sale of cigarettes and some other goods will be lifted and people will be allowed to exercise outdoors under strict conditions. Buses and trains can resume operating.

Meanwhile, South Africa's military reserves have been called up to join the fight against COVID-19, the army said.

The country has recorded 3,953 confirmed cases including 75 deaths with 143,570 people tested for the virus.

Thursday saw the highest one-day leap in infections with 318 new cases, though the health ministry said this was largely due to intensified screening.

Global tally

Confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide topped 2.7 million and the global death toll surpassed 190,000, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The United States reported more than 869,000 cases, four times the total of Spain. Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have all reported over 100,000 cases, the tally showed.

The United States also recorded the highest death toll with more than 50,000 fatalities. Countries with more than 10,000 fatalities also included Spain, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, the CSSE said.

A man wearing a protective mask runs in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York, April 23, 2020. (FRANK FRANKLIN II / AP)

US

A preliminary survey of New York state residents found that nearly 14 percent of those tested had antibodies against the novel coronavirus, suggesting that some 2.7 million may already have been infected, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.

While noting the small sample size of 3,000 people and other limitations of the survey, Cuomo said the implied fatality rate of 0.5 percent of those infected was lower than some experts feared.

If the infection rate is 13.9 percent, then it changes the theories of what the death rate is if you get infected.

Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York state, US

"If the infection rate is 13.9 percent, then it changes the theories of what the death rate is if you get infected," Cuomo said at a daily briefing.

As of Thursday, New York had 263,460 confirmed cases and a death toll of 15,740, according the state's official count.

Also on Thursday, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a US$484 billion coronavirus relief bill, pushing the total spending response to the crisis to an unprecedented near US$3 trillion.

President Donald Trump, who backs the measure, said he would probably sign it into law on Thursday evening.

The House also approved a select committee, with subpoena power, to probe the US response to the coronavirus. It will have broad powers to investigate how federal dollars are being spent, US preparedness and Trump administration deliberations.

The US$484 billion aid bill provides funds to small businesses and hospitals struggling with the economic toll of a pandemic that has killed almost 50,000 people in the United States and thrown 26 million out of work, wiping out all the jobs created during the longest employment boom in US history.

An array of US merchants in Georgia and other states prepared on Thursday to reopen for the first time in a month under newly relaxed coronavirus restrictions.

ALSO READ: Amid warnings, Trump says US states reopening safely

Vice-President Mike Pence urged states to follow new federal guidelines for lifting business restrictions on a gradual basis, after two weeks of declining COVID-19 cases are documented and systems are in place for widespread testing and tracing of infected individuals' close personal contacts.

Italy

The daily number of patients who recovered from COVID-19 on Thursday surpassed new infections for the first time in Italy since the pandemic began in the country's northern region in late February, according to the latest numbers released by the country's Civil Protection Department.

The death toll climbed by 464 on Thursday, bringing the nationwide fatalities to 25,549.

There were 2,646 new cases and 3,033 additional recoveries compared to Wednesday, bringing the nationwide tally to 106,848 and 57,576, respectively.

The total number of active infections, fatalities and recoveries since late February rose to 189,973 cases as of Thursday.

For the first time, the civil protection unit published data on how many people had been tested for the virus so far in Italy, putting the number at 1.053 million, out of a population of around 60 million.

A woman wearing rubber gloves and a face mask to protect against the spread of the coronavirus rides an escalator at a subway station in Paris, France, April 23, 2020. (MICHEL EULER / AP)

France

The number of people who have died from coronavirus infection in France rose by 516 to 21,856 on Thursday, the health ministry said in a statement.

The 2.4 percent increase was slightly slower than on Tuesday and Wednesday, when the death toll increased by 2.6 percent, but well below the more than 4 percent rate seen last week.

France has the fourth-highest reported coronavirus death toll in the world.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 1,653 or 1.4 percent to 120,804 while the number of possible cases in nursing homes rose by 670 or 1.8 percent to 37,379. The number of possible cases in nursing homes has been reviewed downwards from a high of 40,726 on April 20.

The total number of confirmed and possible cases of coronavirus infection in France rose by 2,323 or 1.5 percent to 158,183.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that the government wanted all retail outlets other than restaurants and bars to be able to reopen once a nationwide lockdown is lifted on May 11.

But the government said that not all businesses would be able to go back to work immediately once the lockdown, in place since mid-March to rein in the coronavirus outbreak, ended.

READ MORE: UK moves ahead on developing vaccine, ventilator

Schools in Britain are unlikely to reopen until June 1 at the earliest, the leader of the head teachers' union said.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany needs to fall to a few hundred a day to enable further easing of lockdown measures, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Friday.

Germany recorded 2,337 new cases to bring the total number of confirmed infections to 150,383 on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 227 to 5,321.

Russia

Russia on Friday reported 5,849 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, pushing its nationwide tally to 68,622.

Sixty people with the virus died overnight, pushing the death toll to 615, Russia's official crisis response centre said.

A temporary hospital in St Petersburg with just over 1,000 beds for coronavirus patients will open in the city's Lenexpo exhibition centre by the end of the week, RIA news agency reported late on Thursday.

St Petersburg, Russia's second biggest city, had reported 2,700 coronavirus cases and 20 deaths as of Friday.

To help Russia's health system cope with the outbreak, hospitals across the country, including private ones, are being asked to turn their focus on the coronavirus outbreak.

The defense ministry is also building 16 brand new hospitals across the country. The ministry expects the new hospitals to be fully ready by mid-May.

Hungary

Hungary will begin easing parts of its coronavirus lockdown early next month, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, adding that he expected the economy to recover rapidly from the effects of the pandemic.

Hungary's month-long nationwide lockdown has destroyed tens of thousands of jobs. Orban said rebuilding those was his top priority.

From next month, restrictions will be gradually eased with continued limitations for the elderly, the sick and those living in big cities who face a disproportionate risk, Orban said.

Sweden

Sweden warned on Friday it would shut restaurants and bars in the capital that did not comply with guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, amid signs Stockholm residents were beginning to ignore the rules.

A total of 16,755 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Sweden, with 751 new cases registered between Wednesday and Thursday. The death toll is now 2,021.

The dramatic rise in confirmed cases over the past day can partly be explained by the fact that testing has been extended among medical staff, said deputy state epidemiologist Anders Wallensten at the Public Health Agency's daily press briefing.

"We are absolutely not seeing a decline," Wallensten warned, stressing that the pandemic is far from over.

Greece

The Greek health ministry's coronavirus spokesman, Sotirios Tsiodras, announced on Thursday 55 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since Wednesday and four more deaths.

The infection cases in the country now total 2,463 and death toll stands at 125 since the start of the outbreak on Feb 26.

Cyprus

Cyprus extended a ban on commercial air traffic until May 17 on Friday to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The Cypriot health ministry's top advisor said Thursday that the small number of daily new COVID-19 cases supports the relaxation of restrictions imposed by authorities to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Virologist professor Leondios Kostrikis said there were only five confirmed cases out of a very large number of samplings, raising the total number of infections to 795.

"Should we continue on this track, the relaxation of restrictive measures will be done with more security and at a quicker pace," Kostrikis said.

A cyclist wearing a protective mask rides past a wedding dress store with mannequins wearing face masks, in Zagreb, Croatia, April 23, 2020. (DARKO BANDIC / AP)

Croatia

Croatia will gradually loosen restrictive measures for COVID-19 outbreak starting late this month, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced on Thursday

At a government session, Plenkovic announced that the relaxation will happen in three phases, with the first phase starting on April 27, the second a week later on May 4, and the third on May 11.

"We haven't had a three-digit increase of new cases in a single day. Thanks to the epidemiological measures and responsible behavior of citizens we have succeeded in this," Plenkovic said.

Croatia now has a total of 1,981 COVID-19 cases and 50 deaths, according to the National Civil Protection Headquarters. 

Albania

The Albanian Armed Forces have come to the aid of over 322,000 families in need across the country through the humanitarian operation the government has launched since the coronavirus outbreak, Minister of Defense Olta Xhacka told lawmakers during a plenary session of the parliament on Thursday.

During the past five weeks, a total of 24,720 armed troops have been deployed in all major cities of the country to patrol, monitor and enforce coronavirus curfews imposed by the government in an effort to prevent the virus spread.

Twenty-nine new coronavirus cases were reported by health authorities on Thursday, of which 13 of them were linked to a penitentiary institution in the capital city of Tirana.

To date, the total number of confirmed cases in Albania has reached 663, with 385 recoveries and 27 fatalities.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic eased restrictions on Thursday aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus after a drop in new cases sparked optimism the outbreak had so far been brought under control.

The government will allow up to 10 people meet in public - instead of the current two - as of Friday, and reopen universities as of Monday.

The sharp policy turn also includes speeding up opening shops. From Monday, shops with floor space of up to 2,500 square meters will reopen, along with fitness centres or libraries.

The Interior Ministry said it was also slightly relaxing a ban on entry for foreigners to allow in university students and business travellers from the EU, subject to conditions.

The country has reported 7,138 cases in total, while the number of active cases fell below 5,000 on Wednesday for the first time since April 8. There have been 210 deaths.

Algeria

Algeria will ease confinement measures from the first day of the holy month of Ramadan on Friday by shortening a night curfew and lifting a full lockdown for a province near the capital Algiers, the prime minister's office said on Thursday.

It said the full lockdown in the Blida province south of Algiers will be replaced with a curfew from 2 pm to 7 am while a 3 pm-7 am curfew in nine provinces, including Algiers, will be shortened to run from 5 pm to 7 am.

The government made no changes to the confinement measures in the remaining provinces where a 7 pm-7 am curfew has been imposed for weeks.

The total number of confirmed cases increased to 3,007 cases on Thursday with 91 new infections reported over the last 24 hours, Djamel Fourar, head of the COVID-19 Detection and Follow-up Commission said.

Fourar said that the death toll rose to 407 after registering an additional five fatalities. The number of recoveries reached 152, bringing the total number to 1,355. 

Egypt

Egypt will ease its coronavirus lockdown for the holy fasting month of Ramadan by allowing more businesses to reopen and shortening a night-time curfew, the prime minister said on Thursday, as new coronavirus cases reached the highest daily toll since the first infection was confirmed in February.

Starting on Friday, the curfew will start at 9 pm instead of the previous 8 pm and run until 6 am, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a televised news conference.

Egypt on Thursday reported a daily record of 232 new cases, including 11 deaths, bringing the country's total to 3,891 infections and 287 deaths.

Shopping malls and businesses will be allowed to open on weekends, but will still be required to close at 5 pm.

Mosques will remain closed and any public religious gatherings will still be banned.

A health official sanitizes a plastic bag containing a patient's nasal swab that is to be tested for the coronavirus. At a government-run testing centre in Lagos, Nigeria, April 23, 2020. (SUNDAY ALAMBA / AP)

Nigeria

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) said in an update late Thursday it has recorded 108 new cases of COVID-19 in the country, bringing the tally to 981.

Total deaths recorded in the country from the virus now stands at 31, while 197 infected persons had been treated and discharged. 

Nigeria has defended the slow pace of testing for the coronavirus as health authorities have tested only 10,000 people out of a population of more than 200 million. 

Authorities have adopted a strategy of “managed acceleration” and won’t pool samples to multiply testing capacity as is currently being done in Ghana, which has rolled out one of the largest testing programs in the region, said Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general for the NCDC.

The government is struggling to import the kits needed to enable existing tuberculosis and HIV centers to test for the coronavirus due to a global supply crisis, said Ihekweazu.

“Once we have these in, we will be able to quickly scale up testing across the country,” he said, without saying when they will arrive.

Meanwhile, heatlh officials said Thursday Nigeria was investigating a reported sharp rise in deaths in the northern commercial city of Kano to determine if it is related to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday the local Daily Trust newspaper reported what it called the "mysterious" recent deaths of around 150 people in Kano city.

Morocco

Morocco's Interior Ministry on Thursday announced a nationwide curfew for a month, starting Saturday, as the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,568.

This curfew is aimed to implement social distancing, and encourage people to stay home from 7 pm to 5 am local time (2000 GMT to 0600 GMT) during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in Morocco on Saturday.

The ministry said in a statement that it is strictly forbidden for citizens to go out of their homes, except for the people working in vital sectors. 

Libya

The UN-backed Libyan government on Thursday decided to reduce the daily curfew time from 24 to 12 hours next week.

The new curfew will start on April 28, from 6 pm to 6 am local time (1600 to 0400 GMT), during which the movement of vehicles will be allowed instead of the previous tight restriction.

All government administrative agencies will keep only 10 percent of their staff, and banks will be reopened for the public.

The total number of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Libya has so far reached 60, including 18 recoveries and one death, according to the National Center for Disease Control.

Mali

Mali's health authorites reported 16 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 309 in the country.

According to the Malian Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, there were four more newly reported deaths.

So far, the West African country has so far reported 309 positive cases, including 21 deaths and 77 recoveries.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde's Ministry of Health and Social Security confirmed on Thursday nine new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the capital city of Praia, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 82.

The new confirmed cases include one death and one recovery.

Cameroon

Cameroonian authorities have released around 1,000 prisoners to prevent spread of COVID-19, according to the country's Ministry of Justice.

"We are hoping that this measure will stop the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in our prisons. That is why the president decided that our prisons nationwide should be decongested," said Amadou Souley, Director of Criminal matters and pardon in the Ministry of Justice.

Over 600 people were freed Thursday morning from one of the overcrowded prisons in Cameroon's commercial capital Douala, local media reported.

According to the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Cameroon has reported more than 1,100 COVID-19 cases, including 43 deaths. 

Kenya

Kenya's Ministry of Healthy on Thursday confirmed 17 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 320.

Mercy Mwangangi, chief administrative secretary, said that six patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 89 persons.

Senegal

Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action reported on Friday 66 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 545 in the country.

Among the 528 virological examinations carried out within the past 24 hours, 66 came back positive, including 61 follow-up contact cases and five cases of community transmission, Senegalese health minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr announced during the daily COVID-19 briefing.

According to him, five more patients tested negative after treatments, bringing the total number of cured to 262. But he also said there is one patient "in critical condition".

Of the 545 confirmed cases, 400 are close contacts cases, 85 are imported ones and 60 are due to community transmission. Six patients have lost their lives to COVID-19.

Somalia

Somalia's health ministry on Thursday confirmed 42 new cases of COVID-19, raising the national tally to 328.

Health Minister Fawziya Abikar also reported two more deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 16.

The minister said two people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to eight.

Police commander, Abdi Hassan Mohamed, said the government has revised curfew hours to start from 7 pm to 5 am from 8 pm to 5 am.

Canada

Canada is failing its seniors as officials struggle to contain fatal outbreaks of the coronavirus in long-term care homes across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were more than 41,752 confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country and 2,141 deaths. Almost half of Canada's total deaths have been in nursing homes.

Ontario and Quebec, the country's largest provinces, have both requested military help as officials face deadly outbreaks and severe staffing shortages in nursing homes.

Ottawa has approved those requests, Trudeau said, but added that it was a short-term solution.

Meanwhile, Trudeau announced that an additional 1.1 billion Canadian dollars (about US$782 million) will be allotted for national medical research against COVID-19.

Trudeau also announced the creation of a new COVID-19 immunity task force focused on serology testing to determine if someone has been exposed to the virus already.

A woman is sprayed with disinfectant at a makeshift camp in Lima, capital of Peru, previous to her return to her home province in Piura, on April 23, 2020. (RODRIGO ABD / AP)

Peru

Peru's reported coronavirus cases rapidly increased this week and topped 20,000 on Thursday, doubling in nine days, as President Martin Vizcarra extended a national quarantine in the world's No. 2 copper producer.

Vizcarra extended the national quarantine to May 10 from April 26 previously. The health ministry says it expects patient numbers to peak within days or in the following week.

The number of confirmed cases doubled to 20,914 confirmed cases on Thursday. A total of 572 deaths has been recorded so far.

Brazil

The mayor of Brazil's biggest city Sao Paulo on Thursday unveiled an emergency plan to build thousands more grave sites at city cemeteries to prepare for the expected rise in deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sao Paulo, which has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, has registered nearly 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 in one month.

"Hospitals are at 70 percent of capacity, and that's why we have to prepare for the worst period of the pandemic in our city," Sao Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas said.

Nationwide, Brazil's tally rose to 49,492 and the death toll climbed to 3,313, after 3,735 new cases and 407 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica, the first country in Central America to register a  coronavirus infection on March 6, has gone three days without reporting a related fatality. 

Thursday was the seventh day in succession in which the number of active cases fell.

Over the past week, 45 new cases were reported, while 122 people recovered, reducing the number of active cases to 485 from 564, the health ministry said.

As of Thursday, Costa Rica, a country of some 5 million people, had reported 687 coronavirus cases in total and six deaths.

Ecuador

Ecuador's health minister said on Thursday the country's coronavirus case total was twice as high as previously confirmed, as authorities added 11,000 new infections that resulted from delayed testing.

So far, the country has recorded 560 confirmed deaths.

Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said the government would add the new cases to the confirmed total of 11,183 infections. Almost 24,000 test results were pending, according to the health ministry's figures, and on average they take a week to process.

Bolivia

Bolivia, where a lockdown is set to expire on April 30, is studying the situation to decide whether to relax or ramp up social distancing rules, said Yerko Nunez, minister of the presidency of the interim-government, at a press conference on Thursday.

The interim cabinet will meet next week to assess recommendations by health authorities and a scientific committee, Nunez said, adding there are regions with increasing cases that call for "drastic decisions," while other regions have seen a halt to new infections.

Bolivia has reported 672 cases and 40 deaths so far.

Mexico

Mexico has registered a total of 11,633 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,069 deaths, the health ministry said Thursday.

Mexico's General Health Council has already unanimously approved an extension of the lockdown through May 30 from the initial April 30 deadline, as the authorities predict a rapid increase of infection and hospitalization.

Chile

Chile said Thursday that a total of 11,812 people have tested positive with 168 fatalities, after 516 new infections were detected in the past 24 hours.

According to Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich, officials have detected infections among migrant communities, calling for special measures, such as "transferring them to sites where they can undergo their quarantine period in a more adequate and protected way."

In response to outbreaks in jails in some parts of the country, officials plan to "set up an isolation area for people diagnosed with COVID-19" to "reduce infection among the prison population," he said.

Ukraine 

Ukraine on Friday has reported a total of 7,647 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 193 deaths, the country's health ministry said.

In the past 24 hours, 477 people have tested positive for COVID-19, while 505 patients have recovered.

Currently, a total of 2,489 coronavirus patients are hospitalized, including 109 children and 244 health workers. Among them, 103 people, including one child, are using ventilators.

Zimbabwe 

Zimbabwe on Friday reported one more case of COVID-19, bringing to 29 the total number of confirmed cases in the country.

Belgium 

Belgium has recorded 1,496 new infection cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total number of infections since the beginning of the epidemic to 44,293, health authorities announced on Friday.

Friday's new daily infections are much higher than Thursday's 908 cases.

Within the 24-hour period, 190 new deaths from  COVID-19 have been confirmed, fewer than 230 registered over the previous period. So far, a total of 6,679 people have succumbed to the coronavirus-caused disease.