Cindy Ord / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
The US has surpassed the national tally of China with coronavirus cases standing at over 85,000.
It comes as over 519,000 tests were administered across many states, with the death toll rising beyond 1,200.
New York, New Orleans and other cities have seen an increase in hospitalisations, with many centres reporting shortages of supplies, staff and sick beds.
It comes President Donald Trump set up a "Easter deadline" for the country to return to work.
Meanwhile, China has recorded more than 81,000 cases, with Italy next on the tally with 80,589 cases.
The global tally has crossed 500,000, with more than 124,000 recoveries and over 24,000 deaths.
The US has officially left the World Health Organisation (WHO) after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the UN health agency's management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vietnam's top leader To Lam was re-appointed on Friday as head of the ruling Communist Party for the next five years after a unanimous vote by its central committee, as he pledged to turbocharge growth in the export-reliant nation.
Uganda's military chief said on Friday that authorities had detained 2,000 opposition supporters, killed 30 and were hunting for more following a disputed presidential election in which his father Yoweri Museveni, won a seventh term.
Indonesian rescuers on Friday had found the bodies of 10 passengers on a fishery surveillance plane that went missing in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province over the weekend, the country's search and rescue agency said.
His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, welcomed trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi between Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the completion of a major package of infrastructure projects in Al Quoz Creative Zone, aimed at improving connectivity and strengthening transport integration across the area.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) has announced its support for a measles vaccination programme led by UNICEF, targeting children in marginalised communities and conflict zones.