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UNITED NATIONS, Apr 14 (APP): The head of World Health Organization’s (WHO) has said he is confident the United States will continue its financial contribution to the U.N. agency that is spearheading the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has engulfed much of the globe.

The comments by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus come nearly a week after President Trump criticized the agency for waiting too long to call the outbreak a pandemic and said he was considering a freeze or cut in U.S. funding to the organization.

NEW YORK, Apr 13 (APP): After letters and phone contacts, Pakistan’s Consul General Ayesha Ali on Sunday reached out to the coronavirus-lockdown community members in New York by posting a video message to assure them of the consulate’s continued support and assistance, as U.S.’ worst affected region battles the deadly pandemic.

NEW YORK, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 550,000 on Sunday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 550,016 with 21,733 deaths as of 5:30 p.m. (2130 GMT), according to the CSSE.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 3,600 deaths nationwide have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by The Associated Press.

Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of its own, the AP has kept its own running tally based on media reports and state health departments. The latest count of at least 3,621 deaths is up from about 450 deaths just 10 days ago.

NEW YORK, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 500,000 on Friday night, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 500,399 with 18,693 deaths as of 10:00 p.m. (0200 GMT on Saturday), according to the CSSE.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 (APP): The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a premature lifting of restrictions imposed to control the coronavirus pandemic could spark a deadly resurgence, as global deaths from the virus topped the 100,000 mark.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Saturday that countries should be cautious about easing restrictions, even as some struggle with the adverse economic impact.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 (APP): The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on religious leaders of all faiths to join forces and work for peace around the world and focus on the common battle to defeat coronavirus, which has swept the globe.

The UN chief made the call in a special appeal issued on Saturday, and at a time when Christians are celebrating Easter, Jews are marking Passover, and Muslims will soon begin the holy month of Ramadan.

NEW YORK (AP) — As hospitals scour the country for scarce ventilators to treat critically ill patients stricken by the new coronavirus, pharmacists are beginning to sound an alarm that could become just as urgent: Drugs that go hand in hand with ventilators are running low even as demand is surging.

Michael Ganio, of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, said demand for the drugs at greater New York hospitals has spiked as much as 600% over the last month, even though hospitals have stopped using them for elective surgery.

NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus crisis is taxing New York City’s 911 system like never before.

Operators pick up a new call every 15.5 seconds. Panicked voices tell of loved ones in declining health. There are multitudes of cardiac arrests and respiratory failures and others who call needing reassurance that a mere sneeze isn’t a sign they’ve been infected.

The system is so overwhelmed, the city has started sending text and tweet alerts urging people to only call 911 “for life-threatening emergencies.”

NEW YORK (AP) — The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus surged past 100,000 Friday as the epidemic in the U.S. cut a widening swath through not just New York City but the entire three-state metropolitan area of 20 million people connected by a tangle of subways, trains and buses.

In the bedroom communities across the Hudson River in New Jersey, to the east on Long Island and north to Connecticut, officials were recording some of the worst outbreaks in the country, even as public health authorities expressed optimism that the pace of infections appeared to be slowing.