countries

European governments have moved to halt the use of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, and a second global trial was suspended, further blows to hopes for a treatment promoted by US President Donald Trump. Brazil's death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 25,000 people on Wednesday, the health ministry said. Deaths from the disease caused…

By Jessica Hamzelou It isn’t safe to lift lockdowns until new case numbers are lowJustin Paget/Getty Images By April this year, around half of the world’s population was under some kind of lockdown. Such restrictions helped slow the spread of the coronavirus. As new cases decline in many places, countries are beginning to ease restrictions. How can…

By Adam Vaughan South Africa has mobilised resources as part of a national coronavirus campaignJacques Marais/Real Time Images/ABACA/PA Images Coronavirus cases across Africa have continued to occur at much lower levels than on other continents. After many African countries took quick action to stop the virus spreading, attention is now turning to what will happen…

Last month, after Apple and Google announced some changes to their forthcoming attempt to track the spread of COVID-19, I noted the surprising degree to which tech giants are setting the terms of the pandemic response. They own the hardware, they own the software, and national governments who would use it to find new cases…

The US leads the world in terms of number of positive coronavirus cases, with a total of more than 1.2 million.The country is the only to break the one million case mark so far. Spain is behind the US, with a total of more than 220 000 cases. Italy is third, with more than 214…