COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 19 October

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 39.9 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at over 1.13 million.

Poland is set to open a field hospital at the national stadium in Warsaw, in order to cope with a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Italy has unveiled new measures to tackle a rise in coronavirus cases. They include giving mayors the power to shut public squares from 21:00, and pausing amateur sporting competitions and local fairs.

Victoria, Australia, will further ease restrictions, after months of limits. The 5 million people in Melbourne will be able to spend as much time exercising outdoors as they wish, within 25km of their homes.

France has reported almost 30,000 new confirmed cases bringing the country's total to nearly 900,000.

The Czech Republic has said it will wait at least two weeks until deciding on a full lockdown. Recent new measures included bars and restaurants being ordered to close except for takeaways and schools moved to distance learning.

The Slovak government has approved plans to use up to 8,000 armed forces personnel to support mass testing.

China's economic recovery accelerated in the third quarter, but headline growth was weaker than expected.

Europe should distribute the 750 billion euro recovery fund for its economy promptly, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told a French newspaper.

New Zealand has identified one case of COVID-19 in the community. Officials say it was detected early and the risk of transmission halted.

Friday saw a record global rise in confirmed cases - increasing by more than 400,000 for the first time.

Europe has emerged as the new epicentre. As a region, it's reporting more than 140,000 cases a day on average - more than India, Brazil and the United States combined.

New restrictions are being introduced across the continent in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

Reuters analysis suggests that, overall, Latin America is the world's worst-affected region, followed by Asia, North America and Europe.

3. International community 'failing'

The world has failed to rise to the challenge of tackling COVID-19, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a major global challenge for the entire international community, for multilateralism and for me, as secretary-general of the United Nations,” Guterres told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

“Unfortunately it is a test that, so far, the international community is failing.”

He said that more unity and cooperation was needed on the pandemic - and other global issues, such as on-going conflicts in Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria.