WORLD

USAID officials also said it was important to recognize that the U.S. "is not the only donor in the world focusing on the COVID-19 outbreak."

The prime minister said in a statement that he would continue to lead his government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic by video conference.

While the U.S. has become the epicenter of the outbreak, China is banning all foreigners and limiting air travel in a bid to curb its growing number of imported cases.

Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday despite having accused China of culpability over the pandemic.

St. Kitts and Nevis reported its first pair of confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday

While the United States and the Soviet Union banded together in World War II, experts say the U.S. and China's economic superpower rivalry runs too deep for them to cooperate against the new coronavirus.

"At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended," the U.N.'s human rights chief said.

Thousands of recoveries have been reported around the world, including in Europe, the current epicenter of the pandemic, while China has seen nearly 73,000 recover from infection.

Italy has the most cases outside China and the highest death toll in the world, while the U.S. reports the second largest number of confirmed infections outside China.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Canada was against any militarization of the "the longest unmilitarized border in the world."

The U.S. death toll has climbed past 1,000 and New Zealand has begun a month-long country lockdown in a bid to prevent an outbreak.

Health care workers in Australia have recently released a statement pleading to "not be abused" following an incident where a nurse was punched in the face while wearing her nursing uniform.