Media reports say confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus world-wide surpassed one million on April 2, a grim milestone for the pandemic as governments deploy increasingly stringent measures to battle its spread.
More than 1,002,000 people have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease worldwide, as the death toll surpassed 51,000 while about 208,000 patients recovered.
The United States is the world's hardest-hit country. CNN says the United States has reported more than 243,000 cases, with more than 5,900 deaths.
6.6 million people in the United States reportedly filed for unemployment last week — the highest number of initial claims in history.
Al Jazeera says the coronavirus pandemic death toll in Spain passed 10,000 on Thursday, as the country reported its highest single-day number of deaths since the outbreak began, with the total rising by more than 1,000 to 10,096 among 110,238 infections.
The number of cumulative known deaths from coronavirus in France surged to nearly 5,400 as the country started including fatalities in nursing homes in its data.
Italy, Germany and Pakistan have prolonged their lockdowns.
Japan reported 235 new cases of the novel coronavirus on April 2, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the country to 3,329. It also reported three new coronavirus-related deaths.
Meanwhile, the World Bank approved a plan to roll out $160 billion in emergency aid over 15 months to help countries deal with the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.
According to Al Jazeera, the board of the Washington-based development lender announced the first set of fast-track crisis funding, with an initial $1.9 billion going to projects in 25 countries, and operations moving forward in another 40 nations, the bank said in a statement.
