The global death toll from Covid-19 has crossed 300,000 mark late Thursday night with more than 300,791 deaths and rising.
More than 4,488,185 people have been infected with the virus thus far since it broke out last December.
So far, 1,688,773 patients have recovered from the virus that has affected 212 countries and territories around the globe.
The European Union's medicines agency suggested yesterday that a vaccine for the coronavirus could be ready in year, even as the World Health Organization warned that the disease may never go away.
The pandemic has caused massive social and economic upheaval across the planet and while some nations have begun easing punishing lockdowns, fears of a second wave have kept many businesses shuttered and people confined to their homes.
'Best-case scenario'
With the race to find a vaccine gathering pace, the European Medicines Agency said one could possibly be ready in a year based on data from trials under way.
Announcing the forecast at a video news conference, Marco Cavaleri, the EMA's head of biological health threats and vaccines strategy, stressed that it was a "best-case scenario."
"We know also that there may be delays," he said, voicing scepticism over reports a vaccine could be ready as early as September.
And world leaders were among 140 signatories to a letter published yesterday saying any vaccine should not be patented and that the science should be shared among nations.
A vaccine could allow countries to fully reopen from shutdowns that have battered economies and thrown millions of people out of work.
But the WHO cautioned Wednesday that the virus may never be wiped out entirely.
"This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away," said Michael Ryan, the global health body's emergencies director.
"HIV has not gone away -- but we have come to terms with the virus."
There have been more than 4,466,683 officially recorded cases in 212 countries and territories.
The United States has recorded the most deaths at 84,136. It is followed by Britain (33,186), Italy (31,106), Spain (27,321) and France (27,074).
'Wave of bankruptcies'
Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has said reopening too soon risks triggering uncontrollable outbreaks, but Trump dismissed the call for caution as "not acceptable."
The tensions between health and the economy were thrown into sharp relief Wednesday when Federal Reserve chief Jay Powell warned of a potential "wave of bankruptcies" that could cause lasting harm.
Australia released figures showing almost 600,000 people lost their jobs as the country's virus shutdown took hold in April, the steepest monthly drop in employment since records began more than 40 years ago.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the number "terribly shocking."
But the reopening of economies continued in earnest across Europe, where the EU has set out proposals for a phased restart of travel and the eventual lifting of border controls.
Elsewhere, Japan -- the world's third largest economy -- lifted a state of emergency across most of the country except for Tokyo and Osaka.
New Zealanders mingled with friends and hit the shopping malls for the first time in seven weeks as a national lockdown ended and businesses faced a "new normal" minimising the constant threat of coronavirus.
Children were back to school in Finland, while in France some beaches reopened -- but only for fishing and swimming, and people in England were allowed to leave their homes more freely.
However, in Latin America the virus continued to surge, with a 60% leap in cases in the Chilean capital of Santiago, prompting authorities to impose a total lockdown on the city.
In Argentina, officials were watching Buenos Aires warily after one of its poorest and most densely populated neighbourhoods showed a spike in infections.
But there were also bright spots. Mauritius declared temporary victory against the virus, saying it had "zero" patients and had not documented a single new case in 17 days.
