The global tally has reached 81,109, with 412 new cases confirmed yesterday in China and 459 elsewhere including in four new countries - Algeria, Austria, Croatia and Switzerland.
Key markets were mixed around the globe, with London's FTSE 100 managing a 0.35% gain to climb off the previous day's one-year low.
The S&P 500 closed lower but the Nasdaq gained.
Futures were similarly mixed.
Gold had dropped to around US$1,625 an ounce on the spot market earlier and had risen to about $1,641/oz at the time of writing, having neared the $1,700/oz mark earlier this week.
It was a "mixed bag for base metals" on the London Metal Exchange, Marex Spectron's Dee Perera noted, with copper and lead closing lower while zinc and nickel gained.
Among the majors, Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) closed 0.08% lower after releasing its full-year results, including a record final ordinary dividend and a $1 billion plan to help meet new climate change targets.
In New York, gold major Newmont (NYSE: NEM) rose 0.53% as it dubbed Peñasquito "the next Boddington" for its improvement potential in a site visit presentation for the Mexican mine.
Finally, BHP (ASX: BHP) was off about 0.4% in morning trade in Australia.
