WHO expert says COVID-19 outbreak potentially stabilizing in Europe, US Navy ship arrives in NYC to ease pressure on hospitals

A healthcare worker takes a sample from a driver to test for possible COVID-19 infection at a drive-through test station in Iserlohn, Germany, on March 26, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious illness.
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GENEVA -- Given the latest growth curve of new coronavirus cases amid extensive lockdown measures, European countries, particularly the most affected countries like Italy and Spain, could see potential stabilization of COVID-19 outbreak, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) expert noted here Monday.
In the past 24 hours as of Monday morning, a total of 31,726 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Europe, which marked the lowest growth since last Friday, according to the WHO's daily situation report.
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BRUSSELS -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Europe kept swelling, with the region's total approaching 400,000 and that of Italy exceeding 100,000 as of Monday.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 693,224 COVID-19 cases and 33,106 deaths have been reported globally as of 10:00 a.m. CET Monday, of which, 393,285 cases and 23,966 deaths were registered in Europe.
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WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States has tested 1 million people in the country for the novel coronavirus.
"Today we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. Over 1 million Americans have been tested -- more than any other country by far," Trump told a White House briefing.
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NEW YORK -- The U.S. Navy Ship (USNS) Comfort arrived in New York City on Monday, bringing 1,000 hospital beds to help relieve the city's overwhelmed hospital system amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Both New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio went to greet the ship, which docked on Monday morning at Pier 90 in the West Side of Manhattan.
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CAIRO -- Iran's confirmed novel coronavirus cases jumped by 3,186 to 41,495 on Monday. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was under quarantine after one of his aides was diagnosed with the virus.
The death toll in Iran from COVID-19 infection rose by 117 to 2,757. So far, 13,911 of the infected people in Iran have recovered, while 3,511 others remained in critical condition.