Iran has allowed some shuttered Tehran businesses to reopen despite the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak, as many faced a bitter choice between risking infection and economic ruin.

Israel has approved some easing to its tight coronavirus restrictions while pointedly avoiding announcing the first stage of an exit from lockdown.

Coronavirus deaths surged past 100,000 in Europe as the world's top musicians joined forces for a virtual concert, hoping to spread cheer to billions stuck at home under lockdown.

A-listers including the Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder and teen superstar Billie Eilish entertained fans with a six-hour online extravaganza celebrating healthcare workers.

Iran on Saturday announced 73 new deaths from the coronavirus, raising the official toll to 5,031 as the government allowed small businesses to reopen in Tehran as they already have in the provinces.

It was the seventh day that the number of deaths in the previous 24 hours had fallen.

The United States on Friday passed 700,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

International financial institutions and African leaders warned on Friday the continent needs tens of billions of dollars in additional money to fight the coronavirus pandemic despite debt freezes and massive pledges of support.

A man in his fifties has become the first person to die from the novel coronavirus outbreak in the Kurdish-dominated northern part of war-torn Syria, UN officials said Friday.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Friday it had developed an antibody test that it hopes to roll out in May to detect people previously infected with COVID-19, even those who displayed no symptoms.

Germany said on Friday a month-long lockdown had brought the coronavirus pandemic under control, announcing plans to manufacture 50 million masks a week ahead of the first steps to loosen restrictions.

China's coronavirus ground-zero city of Wuhan on Friday abruptly raised its death toll by 50 percent, saying many fatal cases were "mistakenly reported" or missed entirely in an admission that comes amid growing global doubts about Chinese transparency.