China is refuting allegations that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated in a laboratory near the city of Wuhan where contagious samples were being stored.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian cited the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other unidentified medical experts as saying there was no evidence that transmission began from the lab and there was "no scientific basis" for such claims.
"We always believe that this is a scientific issue and requires the professional assessment of scientists and medical experts," Mr Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing on Thursday. "Only with reasonable response can the international community win this fight," Mr Zhao said. "China will continue to work together with other countries to help and support each other."
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China has also strongly denied claims it delayed reporting on the virus outbreak in Wuhan late last year and underreported case numbers, worsening the impact on the US and other countries.
The virus is widely believed to have originated with bats and have passed via another animal species to humans at a wildlife and seafood market in Wuhan, although a firm determination has yet to be made. Allegations about a leak of the virus from the lab have been made in the US media without direct evidence.
China has reported 46 new cases of the virus, also known as Covid-19, 34 of them brought from outside the country, but no new deaths from the outbreak.
China has now reported a total of 3,342 deaths from the virus among 82,341 cases. Around 3,000 people remain in hospital with Covid-19 or under isolation and monitoring for showing signs of the illness or testing positive but not displaying symptoms.
Global cases of coronavirus passed the two million mark on Thursday, with 2,064,115 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The number of people who have died so far in the pandemic stands at more than 137,000.
North America
Coronavirus deaths in the United States rose above 32,000 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as president Donald Trump prepares to announce guidelines for reopening the economy.
The US is the world’s worst-affected country with fatalities doubling in just a week and setting a record single-day increase for two days in a row.
US deaths rose by 1,200 on Thursday with many states yet to report. Deaths rose by a record 2,507 on Wednesday.
Seven north-eastern states on Thursday extended a shutdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak until May 15th, even as Mr Trump prepared to detail his plan to end the lockdown in the least-affected states as early as May 1st.
The US shutdown has crushed the nation’s economy to levels not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago as more than 20 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits amid shuttered stores and restaurants.
US cases were nearing 650,000 on Thursday and rose by 30,000 on Wednesday, the biggest increase in five days, according to the Reuters tally.
Earlier on Thursday, the number of people hospitalised for the virus and related deaths fell to their lowest levels in more than a week in New York state, evidence that the hardest-hit state was controlling its spread, governor Andrew Cuomo.
Mr Trump did not back down on his decision to halt funding to the WHO.
Elsewhere in North America, Canada's confirmed number of cases increased by 954 to 28,899 on Thursday. Prime minister Justin Trudeau has said the country's border restrictions with the U will remain in place "for a significant time" as the two nations fight the coronavirus outbreak.
Washington and Ottawa agreed last month to clamp down on non-essential travel while allowing massive trade flows to continue across their long shared frontier.
A total of 1,048 people in Canada had died from the coronavirus by 3pm Irish time on Thursday.
Europe
France registered 753 more deaths from coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 17,920, the fourth-highest tally in the world, but the number of people in hospital has declined for a second day running.
In another sign that the lockdown put in place a month ago is working, Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, said the total of people in intensive care units (ICU) fell for the eighth day in a row, at 6,248, a low point since April 1st.
At 17,920 the number of fatalities is up 4.4 per cent over 24 hours, with the rate of increase decelerating again after it has sped up the two previous days.
Earlier on Thursday, the WHO's regional director said Europe is in eye of the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the number of cases nearing a million, and should move with extreme caution when considering easing lockdowns.
“Case numbers across the region continue to climb. In the past 10 days, the number of cases reported in Europe has nearly doubled to close to one million,” the WHO’s European director, Hans Kluge, told reporters in an online briefing. This meant that about 50 per cent of the global burden was in the continent.
“We remain in the eye of the storm . . . If you cannot ensure these criteria are in place before easing restrictions, I urge you to re-think,” Mr Kluge said, adding: “There is no fast track back to normal.”
Some European countries are beginning to ease some societal restrictions.
Deaths in Italy increased by 525 on Thursday, down from 578 the day before, but the number of new cases accelerated sharply to 3,786 from a previous 2,667. The daily death toll was the lowest since Sunday, while the tally of new infections was the highest since Sunday.
The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21st rose to 22,170 - the second highest in the world after that of the US. The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 168,941.
There were 2,936 people in intensive care on Thursday against 3,079 on Wednesday - a 13th consecutive daily decline.
The virus death toll in Switzerland has reached 1,017 people, the country's public health agency said on Thursday, rising from 973 on Wednesday.
The number of people showing positive tests for the disease increased to 26,732 from 26,336, it said. The government said measures to curb spread of the pandemic were working and announced its timetable for easing restrictions from April 27th.
Neighbouring Austria has already announced a partial exit from its own lockdown, while Germany has announced its own small steps out of the lockdown.
In Germany, carmakers including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz will restart production at some German factories next week after the country eased restrictions designed to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The number of new confirmed infections there has risen for a second consecutive day - the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases reported 2,866 new confirmed cases on Thursday, bringing the country’s total to 130,450. The daily death toll also rose for a second day, by 315 to 3,569, the tally showed. On Wednesday the reported death toll was 285.
Spain reported another substantial increase in daily deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the overall toll to more than 19,000, but figures from the region of Catalonia suggest the true total could be several thousand higher.
The health ministry said 551 people died in the 24 hours to Thursday, up from 523 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 19,130.
The overall number of those infected rose to 182,816 from 177,633 on Wednesday, an increase that health emergency chief Fernando Simon said was largely due to increased testing. Most of those newly identified had mild or no symptoms, he said.
Spain has tentatively begun to ease a strict lockdown imposed on March 14th, opening up some sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, earlier this week. Shops, bars, restaurants and other social gathering places remain shuttered.
Australia and New Zealand
Australia will keep in place restrictions implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus for at least four more weeks, prime minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Mr Morrison said Australia will over the next month expand testing, improve its capacity to trace contacts of known coronavirus cases, and plan a response to any further local outbreaks.
Mr Morrison said these three steps will be finished within four weeks, and Australia will then review the restrictions that include curtailing the movements of residents, and the closures of schools, restaurants and pubs.
New Zealand reported just 15 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday as prime minister Jacinda Ardern began outlining what restrictions imposed during a strict four-week lockdown might be eased from next Wednesday.
Politicians will make a final decision on Monday on whether to proceed with easing the restrictions.
Under Ms Ardern’s plan, primary schools would reopen but attendance would be voluntary, and some business could reopen, including drive-through and delivery restaurants. Shopping centres and retail stores would remain closed and large gatherings banned.
New Zealand has reported 1,401 cases of Covid-19 and nine deaths. The number of new daily cases has dropped significantly over the past 11 days.
Asia
Coronavirus outbreaks across the Middle East threaten to shatter the lives of millions of already destitute people in conflict zones, and could fuel socio-economic upheaval, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday.
Curfews and lockdowns imposed as public health measures to stem spread of the virus are already making it difficult or impossible for many to provide for their families, it said.
The Geneva-based agency, in a statement naming Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan, called for authorities in the volatile region to prepare for a "potentially devastating aftermath" and a "socio-economic earthquake".
The number of the coronavirus deaths in Iran was below 100 for the third consecutive day on Thursday. Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV that 92 more people had been recorded as dying from the virus, bringing the total death toll in the country to 4,869. The ministry had reported 94 deaths on Wednesday. Iran's total number of cases has reached 77,995.
Israel has reported more than 12,500 Covid-19 cases and 140 deaths, with unemployment rates rising above 25 per cent.
Japan has expanded its state of emergency to cover the entire country. Shinzo Abe, the country's prime minister, told a special meeting of medical experts called to discuss the disease: "Areas where a state of emergency should be carried out will be expanded from the seven prefectures to all prefectures."
According to AFP, the declaration allows regional governors to urge people to stay indoors, but with no punitive measures or legal force the measure is weaker than strict lockdowns seen in other parts of the world.
Singapore's outbreak has jumped more than 1,100 cases since Monday. It had looked to be successful in containing a first wave of infections, but the new cases are occurring among workers from poorer Asian countries who live in crowded dormitories and work in the tiny city-state's trade-dependent economy.
Africa
More than one million coronavirus tests will be rolled out in Africa from next week to address a gap in assessing the number of cases on the continent, the head of the African Union's health body has said.
Africa has suffered in the global race to obtain testing kits and other badly needed medical equipment. While the number of virus cases across the continent was above 17,000 on Thursday, health officials have said the testing shortage means more are out there.
South Africa, the most assertive African nation in testing, has carried out close to 80,000 tests so far, director of the Africa centres for disease control, John Nkengasong said. South Africa has reported 2,506 people infected with the coronavirus and 34 deaths. – Agencies