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Revised figures place the United Kingdom's death toll in the top three worldwide, while the WHO maintains it acted "decisively" against the new coronavirus, which it warned could wreak havoc "worse than a terrorist attack".
This story is being updated regularly throughout Thursday. You can also stay informed with the latest episode of the Coronacast podcast.
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UK has second deadliest outbreak in Europe
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The United Kingdom's coronavirus death toll has shot up to become the second worst in Europe and third worst in the world, after the Government began including deaths from outside hospitals in its daily fatality figures.
Britain now stands behind only the United States and Italy in total deaths from COVID-19, after it was revealed on Wednesday the total stood at 26,097 people — a rise from Tuesday's figure of 21,678.
The figures now include deaths in all settings of those who had tested positive for coronavirus, including those in care homes and in the community.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insisted that there had not been a "sudden surge" in deaths as Wednesday's figure included all deaths attributed to COVID-19 from between March 2 to April 28.
"From today, we are moving to an improved daily reporting system for deaths so that deaths in all settings are included wherever the individual has tested positive for COVID-19, rather than just those in hospitals," Mr Raab said during the Downing Street press conference.
Comparatively the US has lost nearly 60,000 people due to coronavirus while Italy's death toll stands at just over 27,000.
WHO says it acted 'quickly and decisively'
The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) defended the body's record in its response to coronavirus in a news briefing on Wednesday [local time].
The WHO has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks, especially from previous top donor, the United States.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the body will reconvene an emergency committee on Thursday [local time] to review the evolution of the pandemic.
"From the beginning, the WHO has acted quickly and decisively to respond to warn the world," Dr Tedros said, after giving a timeline of what the body knew in the lead up to declaring COVID-19 a global emergency on January 30.
"We sounded the alarm early and we sounded it often," he said, adding: "WHO is committed to transparency and accountability."
He said the WHO had trained 2.3 million health workers, shipped millions of tests and brought "music and laughter" in dark hours through a virtual concert with pop superstar Lady Gaga, raising raising $53 million.
At a press briefing, WHO experts also tackled questions about rare cases of Kawasaki disease in children, which is being investigated for potential links to COVID-19.
People mystified as 'plague doctor' wanders English village
A person dressed in a long black cloak and beak-shaped mask has both terrified and amused local residents in the English village of Hellesdon.
The outfit is reminiscent of a seventeenth century plague doctor, at a time when those treating people with the Black Death though the birdlike mask would protect them against infection.
Jade Gosbell, who captured the footage, told the ABC she "couldn't believe it" when she saw the figure on a daily walk.
"It was 20 degrees (which is bikini weather for us Brits) and some guy was just walking around head to toe in a huge plague doctor costume with a mask covering is face. I just thought it was ridiculous as he must of been so hot," she said.
According to the BBC, the local Norfolk police were "keen to trace the individual in order to provide words of advice".
Ms Gosbell, meanwhile, said despite troubling times during the coronavirus lockdown, her community good spirits and had bonded online — and not just because of the plague doctor sightings.
"I see familiar faces everyday now as certain people go for their exercise or walks the same time as me and we smile each other from across the street. It's lovely."
Polio outbreak paralyses child in Niger
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Niger has been struck by a new outbreak of polio, following the suspension of immunisation activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UN health agency reported that two children were infected by the highly infectious, water-borne disease and that one was paralysed.
The outbreak was sparked by a mutated virus that originated in the vaccine and was not connected to a previous polio epidemic Niger stopped last year, WHO said in a statement.
In rare cases, the live virus in oral polio vaccine can evolve into a form capable of igniting new outbreaks among non-immunised children; stopping the epidemic requires more targeted vaccination.
Earlier this month, WHO and partners announced they were forced to halt all polio vaccination activities until at least June 1, acknowledging the decision would inevitably result in more children being paralysed.
Pompeo concerned about pathogens in Chinese labs
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States believes there are many laboratories in China working on contagious pathogens, but does not know if the facilities have adequate security to prevent future pandemics.
The US and others have floated the theory that coronavirus originated in a lab, but the WHO maintains the most likely explanation is that it began naturally in a wildlife market and was transmitted between an animal and human.
"There are multiple labs that are continuing to conduct work, we think, on contagious pathogens inside of China today," Mr Pompeo told a State Department news conference.
"And we don't know if they are operating at a level of security to prevent this [coronavirus pandemic] from happening again. Remember this isn't the first time that we've had a virus come out of China."
Previously, Yuan Zhiming, professor at Wuhan Institute of Virology and the director of its National Biosafety Laboratory, said "malicious" claims about the lab had been "pulled out of thin air" and contradicted all available evidence.
"The WIV does not have the intention and the ability to design and construct a new coronavirus," he said in written responses to questions from Reuters. "Moreover, there is no information within the SARS-CoV-2 genome indicating it was manmade."
Tennis unlikely to return serve in next three months
Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez says he is "not very positive" about the chances of the ATP and WTA Tours returning to normal within three months and believes it would be unfair to resume if some parts of the world remained in isolation.
Professional tennis was shut down in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will not return until at least mid-July, but Lopez believes that might be too optimistic.
Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since World War II, while the French Open has been put back to September after the US Open, which still hangs in the balance.
"Right now it's more about US Open — when they are going to announce if eventually we can play there, maybe the Tour will be able to resume," Lopez told Eurosport's Tennis Legends podcast which will be released on Thursday.
He said he fears a situation where certain players would not be able to compete, depending on the situation in their country.
ABC/wires