OAKLAND, May 9 — The World Health Organisation (WHO) plans to launch an app this month to enable people in under-resourced countries to assess whether they may have the novel coronavirus, and is considering a Bluetooth-based contact tracing feature too, an official told Reuters on Friday.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Malaysian has been ranked fourth in a global survey on public approval of their government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, ahead of Singapore and Indonesia tied in the seventh position.

ABUJA, May 8 — Tens of thousands of people in Africa may die from the novel coronavirus if effective measures against the pandemic are not taken by authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa.

LONDON, May 8 — Chinese researchers who tested sperm of men infected with Covid-19 found that a minority of them had the new coronavirus in their semen, opening up a small chance the disease could be transmitted sexually, scientists said on Thursday.

ANKARA, May 6 — Global coronavirus fatalities exceeded the 250,000 mark on Monday, according to a running tally by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

ROME, May 5 — "Hand hygiene is one of the most effective actions you can take to reduce the spread of pathogens and prevent infections, including the Covid-19 virus," the World Health Organisation says on its website on the occasion of the World Hand Hygiene Day which is celebrated on May 5.

HONG KONG, May 3 — China reported two new coronavirus cases for May 2, up from one the day before, data from the country’s national health authority showed today.

TAIPEI, April 29 — Esprit Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed fashion retailer, is set to close all its stores in Asia outside China by the end of June as it grapples with slumping sales in the region and the Covid-19, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

BEIJING, April 25 ― China's northwestern province of Shaanxi reported today seven new imported cases of the novel coronavirus, all in citizens returning home from Russia, even as domestic cases in the country were largely curbed.

GENEVA, April 24 — All available evidence to date suggests that the novel coronavirus, which has caused the ongoing pandemic, has a natural animal origin and is not a manipulated or constructed virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a daily situation report on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, April 23 — US coronavirus deaths topped 47,000 yesterday after rising by a near-record single-day number the previous day, according to a Reuters tally.

WASHINGTON, April 22 — US coronavirus deaths topped 45,000 yesterday doubling in a little over a week and rising by a near-record amount in a single day, according to a Reuters tally.

BEIJING, April 21 — The World Health Organisation said today that it is not possible to determine the precise source of the new coronavirus at this stage.

ANKARA, April 19 — Global fatalities from the novel coronavirus surpassed 160,000 on Sunday, according to a running tally by the United States (US)-based Johns Hopkins University, reported Anadolu Agency.

MOSCOW, April 15 — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, after US President Donald Trump's statement on the suspension of funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO), that it was not the right time now to do so, reported Sputnik news agency.

BEIJING, April 15 — China reported today a decline in new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the mainland, although an increasing number of local transmissions in its far northeast bordering Russia remained a concern for authorities.

CHICAGO, April 10 — Some 450 inmates and staff have tested positive for coronavirus at Chicago’s largest jail, county corrections officials said on Thursday, representing one of the nation’s largest outbreaks of the respiratory illness at a single site so far in the pandemic.

BEIJING, April 10 — China on Friday reported a fall in new coronavirus cases, particularly imported and asymptomatic infections which authorities fear could see a second wave of Covid-19 as city and travel restrictions are lifted.

BANGKOK, April 9 — Thailand has granted automatic visa extensions for foreigners stranded in the kingdom following travel restrictions and cancellations of flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

WUHAN, April 9 — The number of public transport passengers in coronavirus-hit Wuhan exceeded 620,000 on Wednesday, the day when the city's 76-day lockdown was lifted, reported Xinhua news agency.