FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Latin America has overtaken the United States and Europe in the past week to report the largest portion of new daily coronavirus cases globally, representing a new phase in the virus' spread.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Nearly 5.02 million people have been reported to have been infected globally and 327,759 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1247 GMT on Thursday.

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser. * For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

EUROPE * A U.S. military transport aircraft was expected to deliver a first batch of medical aid to Russia on Thursday, including 50 ventilators, to help Moscow cope with a rising number of cases and deaths.

* British healthcare workers will begin taking part in a University of Oxford-led international trial of two anti-malarial drugs to see if they can prevent COVID-19, including one U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been taking. * Nearly one in six Spanish children have felt regularly depressed during the pandemic, with those from poorer backgrounds suffering worse, according to the Save the Children charity.

* Russia's official death toll rose to 3,099 on Thursday after officials said 127 people had died in the last 24 hours. AMERICAS

* A quarter of Americans have little or no interest in taking a coronavirus vaccine, a poll found, with some voicing concern that the record pace at which vaccine candidates are being developed could compromise safety. * The United States has secured almost a third of AstraZeneca's one billion possible COVID-19 vaccine doses by pledging up to $1.2 billion.

* Latin America overtook in the past week the United States and Europe to report the largest portion of new daily cases globally. * Brazil's outbreak worsened on Wednesday and the South American nation could soon have the second-highest number of cases in the world.

* Brazil issued new guidelines for wider use of anti-malarial drugs in mild coronavirus cases, a treatment touted by President Jair Bolsonaro in defiance of public health experts warning of possible health risks. * Peru's number of confirmed cases surpassed 104,000 on Wednesday, as the outbreak puts pressure on the demand for medicines, whose prices have soared in recent days.

* Ecuador's largest city allowed some businesses to reopen following a fall in daily deaths from the coronavirus pandemic that had for weeks required the city to remain in quarantine. * Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday registered 2,248 new infections and an additional 424 fatalities, a record one-day death toll.

* Bolivian authorities fired the health minister and opened an investigation of potential corruption over allegations that officials bought ventilators at inflated prices. ASIA-PACIFIC

* The city of Wuhan in China conducted 887,321 tests on May 20, the local health authority said on Thursday, compared with 856,128 a day earlier. * Japan will offer medical and financial support to developing countries, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

* Thousands of Indonesians made a late dash to leave Jakarta for their hometowns this week, as the country reported its biggest daily jump in cases, bringing the total confirmed number to 20,162. * Malaysia reported 35 new coronavirus cases at an immigration detention centre on Thursday, after authorities rounded up undocumented migrants this month in areas under lockdown.

* Infections in Pakistan trended higher in recent days and were approaching 50,000, with total deaths crossing 1,000 as the country lifted its lockdown. * Travel restrictions are causing labour shortages at Malaysia's palm plantations, officials said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * South Africa could see up to 50,000 coronavirus deaths and as many as 3 million infections by the end of the year, scientific models showed on Thursday.

* Around 10,000 Iranian health workers have been infected, ILNA news agency reported. * The International Monetary Fund approved a $396 million loan to Jordan to address pressing financing needs.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT * Equity markets slipped on Thursday on concerns about the long-term impact of the coronavirus and simmering U.S.-China tensions, though those worries couldn't stop oil prices from marching to a 2-1/2 month high.

* The Spanish government will raise its net borrowing on financial markets to 130 billion euros in 2020 to pay for coronavirus-linked spending. * The International Air Transport Association said the pandemic could cost Middle Eastern airlines $24 billion and African airlines $6 billion.

* Japan's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell to the lowest in a decade in April as the outbreak began to hit demand. (Compiled by Anna Rzhevkina, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Devika Syamnath; Edited by Tomasz Janowski, Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)