Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that Britain could "turn the tide" on coronavirus within 12 weeks -- but only if people heed advice to avoid social contact.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman warned Thursday of a "more difficult" fight ahead against the new coronavirus, as the kingdom faces the double blow of virus-led shutdowns and crashing oil prices.

The coronavirus epidemic has killed 108 more people in France over the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll from the outbreak in the country to 372, the top French health official said Thursday.

"The number of infections is doubling every four days," Jerome Salomon told reporters, adding that the virus was spreading in France "rapidly and intensely".

Italy on Thursday overtook China's coronavirus death toll, with 427 new fatalities taking its total since the first case was registered in February to 3,405.

A woman who tested positive for coronavirus gave birth to a healthy baby at an Athens hospital, Greek media reported on Thursday.

The U.S. has approved the anti-malarial drug chloroquine for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

"We're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately, and that's where the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has been so great," Trump told reporters. 

Iran on Thursday announced 149 new deaths due to the novel coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,284, according to the health ministry. 

Transport officials in the British capital closed dozens of London Underground stations on Thursday, as the city tries to stem the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany has recorded 10,999 cases of the novel coronavirus, official data showed Thursday, with the number of new reported infections rising by 2,801 in a single day.

World powers were on a war footing against the spiralling coronavirus pandemic on Thursday despite a sign of hope from China where zero new domestic cases were reported for the first time.