Coronavirus deaths could more than double to two million without collective action against the pandemic, the World Health Organization has warned, as Australia's prime minister urged any nation that develops a vaccine to share it with the world.

China's Covid-19 vaccine development programme is in a "leading position" and Beijing is on track to produce over 600 million doses by the end of the year, officials said Friday.

On January 11, the first coronavirus death was officially recorded in China. Eight months after the identification of the disease that appeared in Wuhan in December 2019, the world is on the brink of recording one million deaths.

The novel coronavirus pandemic, soon to pass the milestone of one million deaths, has a higher toll compared with other modern viruses although its ravages to date are far less than the Spanish flu a century ago.

France reported a record number of new daily cases of coronavirus on Thursday, saying 16,096 fresh infections had been logged in the last 24 hours.

The European Commission urged EU members states to better explain and enforce social distancing and hygiene rules to halt the return of a dangerous new wave of coronavirus infections.

If the United Nations was created from the ashes of World War II, what will be born from the global crisis of COVID-19?

Many world leaders at this week's virtual U.N. summit hope it will be a vaccine made available and affordable to all countries, rich and poor. But with the U.S., China and Russia opting out of a collaborative effort to develop and distribute a vaccine, and some rich nations striking deals with pharmaceutical companies to secure millions of potential doses, the U.N. pleas are plentiful but likely in vain.

Bars and restaurants in France's Mediterranean city of Marseille will have to close as the spread of Covid-19 worsens in the country, the health minister said on Wednesday.

India reported more than 83,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, showing some decline after reaching a record a week earlier.

The country has now confirmed more than 5.6 million cases. The health ministry also reported 1,085 new fatalities, raising the death toll to 90,020.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged world leaders to hold China accountable for the spread of the coronavirus, in a video address to a scaled-down U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday as America's death toll topped 200,000.

Beyond criticizing China, Trump took aim at the very foundation of the United Nations by urging other leaders to put their own countries first, a message that echoed his "America First" campaign mantra.