Twenty million Americans may have had COVID-19 as new cases surge

The new estimate is based on CDC studies of blood samples collected nationwide. Many infections were not caught in early testing, when supplies were limited and federal officials prioritised testing for those with symptoms.

Texas halts reopening as cases surge

It comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott halted his state's phased economic reopening on Thursday in response to a jump in COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations, as the number of new daily cases around the country climbed to a near-record high.

Texas has seen one of the biggest surges in new coronavirus cases in the US, reporting a record of more than 6000 new cases in a single day on Monday. The state has set record hospitalisations for 13 days in a row.

"This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business," Abbott said.

Texas' rising numbers are part of a nationwide surge concentrated on states that were spared the brunt of the initial outbreak or moved early to lift restrictions aimed at curbing the virus' spread.

More than 36,000 new US cases were recorded on Wednesday, a few hundred shy of the record 36,426 on April 24.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar played down the rise as "localised".

"So we're working aggressively with states and local leaders in this situation but it's important for the American people to know this is a localised situation, the counties that are in hotspots are 3 per cent of American counties," Azar told Fox News.

"That's not to minimise the situation. It's really important that we get to the bottom of why we're seeing the surge in cases."

The focus of the pandemic has moved to the west and south of the US, including more sparsely populated rural areas, from the early epicentre around New York, where more than 31,000 deaths were recorded, more than a quarter of the country's total.

The numbers in the north-east dropped after governors imposed severe lockdown measures, some of which remain in place in hardest-hit New York City.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that his state reached a new milestone as the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 fell to 996, the first time since March 18 below 1000.

"Together we bent the curve," he said on Twitter. "And we aren’t stopping now."

The number of daily deaths in New York also has been in a long-term decline, dropping to 17 on Wednesday from a high of more than 1000, Cuomo said earlier on CNN.

Eiffel Tower reopens

The Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors on Thursday after its longest closure in peace time: 104 days.

Tourists who are trickling back to Paris were delighted to find the landmark open while some other attractions remain closed. The Louvre Museum will open on July 6.

"We've seen a lot Paris people enjoying their city, enjoying their parks without all the tourists," said Annelies Bouwhuis, a 43-year-old visitor from the Netherlands.

Lifts that usually whisk visitors up the 324-metre tall wrought- iron Eiffel Tower remain closed, so people are taking the stairs. Of the tower's three decks, only the first two reopened.

The number of deaths in France from the new coronavirus has risen by 21 from the previous day to stand at 29,752, the country's health department said on Thursday.

France has the fifth-highest coronavirus death toll in the world, although the number of casualties has steadily decreased from peaks reached in March and April, which has allowed the government to gradually re-open businesses and some schools.

Austrian ski resort hit hard

A study has indicated more than 40 per cent of residents in the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl, an early European hotspot, likely were infected with the coronavirus.

The Austria Press Agency reported that 1473 people - nearly four-fifths of Ischgl's population - took part in the survey conducted by the Medical University of Innsbruck between April 21-27.

It concluded that 42.4 per cent of the town's population have antibodies for the virus and 85 per cent of those who were infected didn't notice at the time.

Dorothee von Laer, who led the study, says it's likely the virus was circulating in Ischgl in the second half of February.

The first case in Ischgl wasn't confirmed until early March. Skiers who picked up the virus there spread it as far afield as Iceland.

Indonesia's infections surpass 50,000

The number of coronavirus cases in Indonesia surpassed 50,000 on Thursday as the government allowed businesses to reopen amid increasing economic pressure.

Scepticism remains over the ability of the government to conduct enough tests to determine the true spread of the virus in the Southeast Asian nation of more than 270 million people living on thousands of islands.

A government task force said on Thursday the coronavirus is confirmed to have infected 50,187 people and killed at least 2620, the highest number of cases and fatalities in the region, up from just two confirmed cases in early March.

Testing remains a major limitation of Indonesia's fight against the virus. The country has tested fewer than 430,000 people, according to government data.

That's far from the World Health Organisation's recommendation of testing 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent of the country's population, said Laura Navika Yamani, an epidemiology expert at Airlangga University.

Nepal tests at borders

Nepal is increasing quarantine facilities and testing at border points to prepare for the expected return of thousands of workers from neighboring India.

Nepal has reported 11,162 cases and just 26 deaths in a population of 29 million. It was among the first countries in South Asia to report a case, but a lockdown imposed in March helped control the outbreak.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel said that coronavirus cases were expected to increase as workers returned home from India, where millions of Nepalese are believed to be employed and where coronavirus cases are surging.

"We are very aware of the number of coronavirus cases in India. That is why we are monitoring and controlling entry of people and at the same time increasing quarantine facilities and testing at border points," Pokhrel says.

India has reported 473,105 cases and 14,894 deaths.

With hospitals overwhelmed in New Delhi, Indian troops provided care at medical wards fashioned from railroad cars.

In China, where the virus first appeared late last year, an outbreak in Beijing appeared to have been brought under control. China reported 19 new cases nationwide amid mass testing in the capital.

Worldwide, more than 9.4 million people have been confirmed infected, and nearly a half a million people have died, by Johns Hopkins University's count. Experts say the true infection numbers are much higher, in part because of limited testing.

Reuters, AP, with staff reporters