The United States has passed the grim milestone of more than four million positive coronavirus cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. So far there have been more than 144,000 deaths. 

Around the world, the total number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 15.3 million with more than 626,000 deaths.

On Thursday, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticized U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his "untrue and unacceptable comments" alleging that the WHO has been "bought" by China. Ghebreyesus said such statements distracted from the pandemic response.

Earlier this week, Pompeo said that China had "co-opted international institutions like the World Health Organization."

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday scrapped plans for a four-night Republican National Convention celebration in Florida that had been set to draw more than 10,000 people to a pandemic hot spot. He said the country "would not take any chances." 

"We have to be vigilant. We have to be careful, and we have to set an example," he said. 

GOP convention canceled 

Citing coronavirus concerns, President Trump called off part of the Republican National Convention that was to take place in Jacksonville, Florida in August.

Jacksonville was added to the convention schedule after original host city Charlotte, North Carolina imposed social distancing rules due to the coronavirus.

However, despite the president's announcement, some delegates still plan to meet in Charlotte where convention events will take place.

Trump said he would deliver an acceptance speech in an alternate form, potentially online.

Most people favor mask mandate 

Three out of four Americans, including most Republicans, favor requiring people to wear masks while outside their homes, according to a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.

The survey also found that about two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the pandemic.

More jobless 

Unemployment in the U.S. rose last week for the first time since late March.

More than 1.4 million people applied for new unemployment claims, up from 1.3 million the previous week.

It's the first increase since March and the 18th straight week that it has topped one million. Before the pandemic, applications had never exceeded 700,000, the AP reported.

An additional 975,000 people applied for aid under a separate program that has made self-employed and gig workers eligible for the first time.

An extra 600 U.S. dollars in weekly unemployment benefits, provided by the federal government on top of whatever assistance states provide, is set to expire July 31, though this is the last week recipients will get the extra funds, according to the AP.

It is the last major source of economic help from the two-trillion-U.S.-dollar relief package that Congress approved in March. A small business lending program and one-time 1,200 U.S. dollars payment have largely run their course, the AP reported.

The news sent stocks slumping on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 recording its worst loss in nearly four weeks. Uncertainty across markets helped gold touch its highest price in nearly nine years, the AP said.

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