Top 10 world news today: Over 2.25 million COVID-19 cases worldwide, and more

In Europe, the hardest-hit continent, there are 1,115,555 declared infections and 97,985 deaths.

Three regional security sources said on Friday that a Chinese government survey ship was tagging an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas in those waters.

"A contaminated document was sent to an office inside the palace from another government department and that's how the employees were infected," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In a bit of welcome news on the employment front, Walmart Inc said on Friday that it would hire 50,000 more workers at its stores.

Coronavirus infections in Russia began rising sharply in April after reporting far fewer infections than many western European countries in the outbreak's early stages.

Britain is at or near the peak of a health crisis in which more than 15,000 people have died - the fifth highest national death toll of a pandemic linked to at least 150,000 deaths worldwide.

The Queen's 94th birthday is on April 21.

These times are hard as one has not witnessed anything close to such a situation since the Great Depression in late 1920s and early 1930s.

Much will depend on how Rome handles the easing of the national lockdown, how quickly it manages to get liquidity to suffering businesses, and how much solidarity it is seen to get from the EU at a key meeting next week.

Farmers and ranchers have struggled to get their goods to market because of disruption caused by the pandemic, forcing some to throw out food and call for government help.