WORLD NEWS coronavirus
NEWS/HEALTH
US weekly jobless claims surge to a record 3.28 million: Updates
Record surge comes as the first wave of layoffs due to the coronavirus hits the US.

by Kate Mayberry   & Tamila Varshalomidze
The number of declared coronavirus cases in Europe topped 250,000, more than half of which are in hard-hit Italy and Spain. But over the last 24 hours, both countries reported improvements.

Spain registered 655 fatalities from the coronavirus - down from over 700 on Wednesday, while Italy confirmed a lower rate of infections.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) European office said it saw "encouraging signs", cautioning it was too early to say whether the worst had passed.

More:
More than 487,000 people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. More than 117,000 have recovered, while more than 22,000 people have died.

Here are the latest updates: