DUBAI: Countries have been exploring different treatment methods to deal with the coronavirus, including using anti-malarial pills to treat patients, as the number of infections worldwide rises to 2.4 million. Middle East countries such as the UAE and Oman have both imported hydrochloroquine tablets this week as possible treatment for COVID-19 patients. April 21, 2020 (All times in GMT) 17:25 France registered 531 more deaths from coronavirus infections, bringing the total to 20,796, the fourth-highest tally in the world, while the pace of increase of fatalities slowed again. 16:40 - UK"s prime minister Boris Johnson told US president Donald Trump that he was feeling better and on the road to recovery during phone call on Tuesday, and the two also discussed a shared commitment to reaching a UK-US free trade deal. 16:30 - UK"s health minister Matt Hancock says a vaccine from Oxford project to be trialed on people starting from Thursday. 16:04 - Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 534, up from 454 the day before and the largest daily tally since Friday, the Civil Protection Agency said. The number of new infections also increased to 2,729 from 2,256 on Monday. 15:40 - Agriculture and food ministers from the Group of 20 countries agreed at a virtual meeting that emergency measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic must not create “unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global food supply chains.” The ministers also said they would guard against any measures leading to excessive food price volatility in global markets or that threaten food supply, according to an emailed final statement. 15:30 - The coronavirus death toll in the UK as a whole rose on Tuesday by 828 to 17,337, according to the health ministry, meaning 50 of the deaths were in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after English hospital deaths were announced at 778. 14:50 - Prevented from doing their jobs and often confined at home, there are concerns about the mental health of "isolated" and "lost" professional footballers during the coronavirus pandemic. A study by global players" union FIFPro published Monday warned of a sharp rise in the number of footballers reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression since the game was suspended worldwide. 14:15 - Dubai"s economic department announced revised working hours for employees of certain sectors on Tuesday, according to a tweet from the emirates media office. 13:30 - The COVID19 death toll in English hospitals rose 778 to 15,607, the UK"s NHS said on Tuesday - one of the steepest daily rises in nearly two weeks. 12:45 - Iraq eased its coronavirus lockdown on Tuesday by letting some businesses reopen and relaxing a month-long curfew on movement imposed to curb the spread of the disease, the government said. The authorities acted days before the start of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar where families tend to go out to shop in the evening. 12:25 – Spain’s best-known bull running festival in the northern town of Pamplona has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, Pamplona city hall said. READ THE STORY 11:30 – Bahrain confirmed 45 new cases, bringing the total to 1,952 infections. 11:25 – UAE confirmed 490 new coronavirus cases, 83 recoveries and 3 fatalities. 11:20 – Lebanon recorded no new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours for the first time during the country’s outbreak, the health ministry said in its daily report. 11:10 – Iran’s death toll from the COVID-19 respiratory disease reached 5,297 on Tuesday, as it claimed 88 lives in the past 24 hours, a health ministry official said. 10:40 – Lebanese MPs were sprayed with sanitizer as they arrived for a legislative session that was relocated from the Beirut parliament building to a theater to allow for social distancing against the coronavirus. 10:35 – Qatar reported 518 new cases, bringing the total to 6,533. 10:20 – Morocco confirmed 140 new cases, bringing its coronavirus tally to 3,186 patients. 09:45 – Singapore said it will extend partial its coronavirus lockdown by four weeks until June 1. 09:45 – Fed up with people breaking virus quarantine rules, one Indonesian politician has decided to scare rulebreakers straight by locking them in a “haunted house.” READ THE STORY 09:45 – Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday that it has temporary released more than 1,000 foreign prisoners due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, following criticism by UN human rights experts. 09:45 – Etihad was unable to provide a financial lifeline to Virgin Australia because of the pressures created by the coronavirus pandemic on its own business, the Abu Dhabi-based airline has said. READ THE STORY 09:40 – Kuwait reported two more coronavirus fatalities, bringing total to 11 deaths. Coronavirus cases meanwhile rose 85 to 2,080 infections. 09:15 – Spain’s coronavirus cases rose to 204,178 and fatalities reached 21,282. 08:15 – Indonesia reported 375 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking the total in the Southeast Asian country to 7,135. 08:10 – Kuwait’s central bank said on Tuesday that banks must provide qualifying small and medium enterprises (SMEs) affected by the coronavirus outbreak with financing at a maximum 2.5 percent interest rate. 08:05 – The Philippines’ health ministry recorded nine new coronavirus deaths and 140 additional confirmed cases. 07:40 – Russia recorded 5,642 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 52,763, the Russian coronavirus crisis response center said 07:30 – Singapore had preliminarily confirmed 1,111 new coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s total infections to 9,125. 07:25 – Tunisia confirmed five new cases, bringing the total to 884 infected people. 07:00 – Oman reported 98 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total caseload to 1,508. 06:50 – Kuwait confirmed 45 new coronavirus recoveries, bringing the total to 412 recovered patients. 06:30 – Japanese police have reported that 11 people whose deaths were deemed to be unnatural in the past month subsequently tested positive for the new coronavirus, media said. READ THE STORY 06:20 – Oman confirmed a coronavirus fatality, bringing the total to eight deaths. 05:55 – Israel’s coronavirus cases increased to 13,883 and deaths reached 181. 04:40 – Thailand has recorded 19 new cases of the virus, as well as one new death. 04:35 – Germany’s coronavirus cases has reached 143,457 after recording a daily rise of 1,785. The country’s death toll stood at 4,598 with 194 new deaths. 03:55 – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it is important to have an inquiry into the outbreak in China.