Nadia, a four-year-old female Malayan tiger, had developed a dry cough before getting tested positive for COVID-19. Nadia's sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions are also being monitored for similar symptoms.

As part of the coordinated international response to counter the disease, the COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility will offer an initial 5 billion U.S. dollars of financing to both public and private sector entities facing serious adverse impacts.

Chinese health authority said Friday it received reports of 31 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland on Thursday, of which 29 were imported.

A forest fire in Xichang, capital of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, was extinguished at midday on Thursday, according to the Xichang city government.

Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province that borders the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has become the first Chinese city to ban the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat by banning the consumption of wild animals.

Confirmed coronavirus cases around the world topped one million on Thursday and the number of deaths soared past 50,000 as Europe reeled from the pandemic and the United States reported a record number of people out of work.

A section of the railway line between Matianxu and Qifengdu stations on the Beijing-Guangzhou line collapsed following a landslide on Monday, causing Train T179 to derail and overturn, leaving one person dead and 127 people injured.

Chinese authorities Thursday demanded further strengthening epidemic control efforts along its land border to prevent the importation of COVID-19 infections.

Restaurants in Wuhan gradually opened amid control and prevention measures.

Jinning District of Kunming has been developing flower planting industry in recent years as a way to boost the income of local people. In 2019, the flower planting area in this district was about 53,900 mu (about 3593 hectares).