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New York City officials have hired contract laborers to bury the dead in its potter's field on Hart Island as the city's daily death rate from the coronavirus epidemic has reached grim new records in each of the last three days.

European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies after weeks of wrangling that exposed painful divisions in the bloc headed for a steep recession.

A deal struck by European Union finance ministers on Thursday evening should not lead to the introduction of coronabonds through the back door, fiscal hawk Austria's Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel said in a statement.

Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands reached an agreement on Thursday evening on an economic support package against coronavirus epidemic, paving the way for a deal among all 27 EU finance ministers, diplomatic sources said.

European Union countries on Thursday evening agreed the emergency credit lines from the euro zone's bailout fund "will be available until COVID-19 crisis is over", a draft of their deal read.

Global equity benchmarks moved higher on Thursday following signs of some success by governments and central banks which have taken additional steps to bolster their economies during the COVID-19 pandemic, while oil prices pulled back from an earlier surge.

Wall Street closed out the trading week on a high note on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve unleashed another program designed to buoy local governments and businesses crushed by massive closures to stem the coronavirus outbreak.

OPEC and other major oil producers on Thursday discussed potential big output cuts in the face of a huge fall in demand due to the coronavirus crisis.

OPEC and it allies held talks on Thursday on record oil output curbs of about 15 million barrels per day (bpd) or more, roughly 15% of global supplies, to support prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis, sources involved in the discussions said.

Shavonda Sisson said she requested a mail ballot to vote in Tuesday's Democratic primary election in Wisconsin well ahead of the election.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab led a nationwide show of appreciation for health service workers on Thursday, standing in for his boss, Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson left intensive care on Thursday evening as he continues to recover from COVID-19, but he remains under close observation in hospital, his office said on Thursday.

The coronavirus death toll in English hospitals rose 765 to 7,248, the health service said on Thursday.

The number of confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus were reported to have exceeded 1.5 million globally and the death toll rose above 89,400, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson left intensive care on Thursday evening as he continues to recover from COVID-19, but he remains under close observation in hospital, his office said on Thursday.

Oil prices slumped on Thursday, giving back an earlier 10% surge as investors doubted the emerging supply-cut agreement between members of OPEC and its allies would adequately address the global fuel demand collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not had any contact with his deputy, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, since he stepped in to fill Johnson's role, Raab said on Thursday, adding that he has enough power to make key decisions without his boss.

The Afghan government freed 100 Taliban prisoners on Wednesday as a first step in a peace process with the hardline Islamists, despite the group's suspension of talks on a planned prisoner exchange crucial to moving to formal talks to end years of war.

Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, has been placed in solitary confinement at a federal prison in New York state where he is serving time for violating campaign finance laws, according to his lawyer and two sources familiar with the matter.

Americans must persevere with social distancing now that their efforts are showing signs of slowing the spread of coronavirus, U.S. medical and state officials said on Thursday, as New York hospitalizations ebbed while the state's death toll spiked again.