FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide coronavirus spread

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday the U.S. economy needs an "additional boost" to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, as his Democratic counterparts and White House officials try to hash out a next wave of relief measures. 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.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday the U.S. economy needs an "additional boost" to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, as his Democratic counterparts and White House officials try to hash out a next wave of relief measures.

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.

* Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and summary of news.

EUROPE

* Switzerland expanded its list of countries from which people arriving must go into quarantine to everywhere outside Europe's Schengen zone, barring a score of exceptions.

* A few European countries including Austria, Norway and Denmark, have introduced "sweetheart visas" that exempt couples from travel bans.

AMERICAS

* White House health experts are warning of an increase in the percentage of people testing positive in U.S. cities including Boston, Chicago and Washington.

* Hundreds of migrant children rapidly expelled from the United States under a coronavirus immigration policy are returning to shelters in Guatemala where testing and bed capacity are regularly stretched to their limits.

* More than 70,000 medical workers have caught the coronavirus in Mexico, where the death toll is now the third-highest worldwide, behind the United States and Brazil.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Ministers from a trans-Pacific trade bloc have agreed to cooperate to fight protectionism and maintain supply chains amid the pandemic.

* Australia will make it easier to qualify for wage subsidies following a surge in infections, its prime minister will say on Friday.

* A recent spate of suicides among migrant workers in Singapore has raised concerns over the mental health of thousands of low-paid workers who have been confined to their dormitories because of COVID-19.

* Hiroshima marked the 75th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing, with ceremonies scaled down due to the coronavirus.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Ten countries account for 80% of the testing taking place across Africa, a regional body said, indicating that little testing is taking place in many countries.

* No Turkish hospitals are operating at capacity because of the pandemic, the health minister said after Reuters quoted doctors saying some dedicated intensive care units were full.

* Turkish women did four times as much household and care work as men during lockdowns, research supported by the United Nations Development Programme showed.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* U.S. President Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday aimed at boosting American drug manufacturing and lowering drug prices, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said.

* An Israeli research institute overseen by the Defence Ministry intends to begin human trials for a potential vaccine as early as October.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Stocks slipped on Thursday as investors waited for signs of agreement on a U.S. aid package to counter damage from the pandemic, with poor corporate earnings reports also weighing on European shares.