Brazil's death toll from the new coronavirus surpassed Italy's to become the third-highest in the world Thursday, as the UN's secretary-general called for a "people's vaccine" to stem the pandemic.

Brazil and Mexico reported record daily coronavirus death tolls as governments in Latin America battled to fortify defenses against the accelerating pandemic with fresh lockdown orders and curfews.

Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche said Thursday the US authorities had given it emergency clearance for a test identifying patients most at risk of a dangerous immune response to coronavirus infection.

Italy reopened to travelers from Europe on Wednesday, three months after the country went into coronavirus lockdown, with all hopes pinned on reviving the key tourism industry as the summer season begins.

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido have reached an agreement to cooperate to raise funds for the fight against the coronavirus, they said Tuesday.

Spain recorded no deaths from the coronavirus for the second day running, the health ministry reported Tuesday, while acknowledging some "discrepancies" in the reported daily figures.

China tested almost 10 million people for coronavirus in just over two weeks in Wuhan, the city where the pandemic began, officials said Tuesday, reporting only a few hundred positive cases.

The global death toll from the coronavirus topped 375,000 on Tuesday as the disease continued to tear through Latin America, but in Europe the return to normality gathered pace with the French heading back to their beloved cafes and restaurants.

Italy posted a series of encouraging figures in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday, including the smallest daily number of new cases since February 26, the Civil Protection Agency said in a statement. 

The World Health Organization stressed Monday that the new coronavirus has not suddenly become less pathogenic, following claims by a leading Italian doctor that COVID-19 had lost some of its potency.