- US health regulators approved the first saliva-based coronavirus test that allows people to collect their own sample at home. The new at-home option is expected to expand use of the test developed by Rutgers University, which the Food and Drug Administration first authorized last month. People can use the plastic tube at home to provide a saliva sample and ship it to a laboratory for processing. The test will be available through a New Jersey network of hospitals and testing sites affiliated with Rutgers. Initially, the government limited the test to health care facilities and testing sites with professional supervision.
- Wales will extend its coronavirus lockdown another three weeks. First Minister Mark Drakeford says in Cardiff it’s too soon to lift most of the restrictions in Wales, and the rest of the UK, since March 23.
- With the coronavirus lockdown set to end in Sri Lanka, hair salons can resume businesses from May 11 after adhering to a set of precautionary measures, officials said here on Friday. Sri Lanka imposed a nation-wide curfew from March 20 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus. As part of precautionary rules, barbers have been told to not directly touch the hair and use fresh cloth on every customer.
- China has reported 17 new coronavirus cases, including 16 asymptomatic ones in the COVID-19 epicentre Hubei province, health officials said on Friday. China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that one locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in Jilin Province on Thursday. Sixteen new asymptomatic cases were reported in the Hubei province, taking the total number of such infections in the country to 845.