FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

India reported more than 49,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, marking the biggest daily surge in the country with the third-highest caseload in the world, while the United States on Thursday recorded more than 1,100 deaths from COVID-19 for a third day in a row. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * 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.

India reported more than 49,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, marking the biggest daily surge in the country with the third-highest caseload in the world, while the United States on Thursday recorded more than 1,100 deaths from COVID-19 for the third day in a row.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he thought the country would be through the novel coronavirus crisis by mid-2021 but his fear was that there may be a second spike.

* Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has gone into quarantine after the head of his political office tested positive for coronavirus late on Thursday.

* Belgium will tighten COVID-19 containment measures on July 25 after a rise in infections.

AMERICAS

* U.S. President Donald Trump said states that are currently coronavirus hot spots may need to delay reopening schools by a few weeks but otherwise pushed for students to be able to return to classrooms en masse in the fall.

* Trump said he would no longer hold part of the Republican Party's nominating convention in Florida in August because of a spike in coronavirus cases in the state. * Bolivia's general election will be pushed back until Oct. 18 as the pandemic grips the South American nation.

* Mexico on Thursday reported a record 8,438 new confirmed cases, bringing the total in the country to 370,712.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Australia's southern island state of Tasmania will next month begin accepting tourists from other areas of the country that have seen significant periods with no fresh cases.

* Tokyo marked one year to go until the Olympics in a subdued 15-minute ceremony in an empty and dark National Stadium.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South African public schools will close for four weeks, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday, as confirmed coronavirus cases rose over 400,000.

* Uganda recorded its first death from the new coronavirus, making it one of the last nations in Africa to report a fatality since the pandemic reached it.

* Baghdad International Airport reopened for scheduled commercial flights after months of closure, as Iraq's total number of infections passed 100,000.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Regulators that normally work within their own countries or regions will likely harmonize efforts on potential COVID-19 vaccines to speed up their approvals once they become available, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.

* Swiss drugmaker Lonza sees no delays for its project to make Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate and has "strong support" from U.S. President Donald Trump to get the necessary manufacturing equipment.

* Quest Diagnostics Inc said it expects to cut week-long turnaround times for COVID-19 tests by more than half to get to "acceptable" levels by September.

* Fitbit and other wearable devices typically linked to exercise are being studied as ways to identify people who are potentially infected with COVID-19 before symptoms appear.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Global shares skidded further from five-month peaks on Friday as a bounce-back in European business activity did little to ease the jitters surrounding Sino-U.S. tensions, while gold approached a record high.

* Coal should play no part in any country's post-coronavirus stimulus plan and economic recovery should align with global climate goals, the U.N. secretary-general said in a lecture to Chinese students.

* The number of overseas visitors to Britain halved in March, the first month in which COVID-19 seriously affected travel, and there was a similar fall in British people going abroad, official figures showed.