Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israelis to continue wearing masks and respect social distancing measures, as confirmed novel coronavirus cases spiked following the easing of lockdown measures.

Canada extended its entry ban for most foreigners by another month to July 31 and also prolonged its quarantine requirements in efforts to prevent imported cases of the coronavirus.

Beijing lifted several lockdowns imposed to control a fresh coronavirus outbreak and reported just three new cases in the city on Wednesday, raising hopes that the cluster had been brought under control.

The European Union reopened its borders Wednesday to visitors from 15 countries -- but not the virus-stricken United States, where a top health official warned the country is headed in the "wrong direction" as cases spike in multiple states.

Iran's coronavirus epidemic is still in its first wave, the health ministry said Tuesday, a day after reporting the highest single-day death toll since the country's outbreak began in February.

Unpaid salaries, mask shortages, threats from patients' families -- doctors across Iraq are cracking under such conditions, just as they face a long-feared spike in coronavirus cases.

Iran reported on Monday 162 more deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest single-day toll since the outbreak began in the country in February.

China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people near the capital to contain a fresh coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, as authorities warned it was soon to "relax" over the new cluster of cases.

The United States has surpassed 2.5 million coronavirus cases, as efforts to reopen the world's economic powerhouse were dramatically set back by a surge of new infections in states such as Florida.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that mask-wearing will be mandatory in certain areas as of next week and gave virus-hit provinces the green light to reimpose restrictive measures.