The US headed into the Fourth of July weekend with many parades and fireworks displays canceled, beaches and bars closed, and health authorities warning that this will be a crucial test of Americans’ self-control that could determine the trajectory of the surging coronavirus outbreak.

The World Health Organisation expects initial results within two weeks from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating Covid-19 patients, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Friday.

Malta reopened its airport on Wednesday to allow visitors from several European countries and try to save tourism, news wires reported. However, British citizens are not included in the safe list, although the UK accounts for 30% of the island’s tourist arrivals. The reopened connections include cities in France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

British authorities imposed a stringent lockdown on the English city of Leicester following a local Covid-19 flare-up just as PM Boris Johnson attempts to nudge the UK back to normality, news wires reported. Leicester accounted for 10% of all positive cases in England in the past week, with 135 cases per 100,000 people, three times higher than the next highest city, the government said.

The daily number of new coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic rose to 305, the highest since 3 April, Health Ministry data showed on Monday.

Gilead Sciences priced its Covid-19 drug candidate remdesivir at $2,340 for a five-day treatment in the US and some other developed countries, it said on Monday cited by Reuters. The price for a single vial was put at $390. This is below the $5,080 per course recommendation by US drug pricing research group, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, last week.

Cinemas, casinos and children’s summer camps in Greece reopened on Monday, while concerts, conferences, commercial fairs and artistic events can once again be held, in the latest phase of the country’s easing of lockdown measures, news wires reported. Outdoor summer cinemas have already been open for several weeks, but this is the first time indoor theaters will be able to operate since the lockdown was imposed in March.

Germany will use its month as rotating chair of the United Nations Security Council to push the body to agree on a resolution concerning the coronavirus pandemic, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has told dpa.

The Czech Republic recorded 168 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, the highest daily rise in cases since early April, news wires reported. It was also the fourth day of the last 10 showing a daily increase of more than 100. Over the past week, the eastern region of Karvina has been by far the most affected by the rise in cases, according to the Health Ministry website.

In order to develop and deliver tests, treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, a World Health Organisation-led coalition fighting the pandemic is asking government and private sector donors to help raise $31.3bn in the next 12 months.