The Latest: China says it wants to offer virus assistance

The Latest on the world's coronavirus pandemic:

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told the U.N. that his nation wants to conduct joint research on drugs and vaccines and offer “as much assistance as it can" to countries where the novel coronavirus is spreading.

State media reported Friday that Xi told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by phone that economic and daily life are gradually returning to normal in China thanks to “arduous endeavors" at prevention and control.

Xi was quoted as saying: “The Chinese people will definitely prevail over the COVID-19 epidemic and will also definitely realize its intended targets for economic and social development."

He was also quoted as saying that the Chinese people's “hard work has won precious time for and made important contributions to other countries' epidemic prevention and control."

China, where the virus was first discovered, recorded just eight new infections on Friday.

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The Indonesian government is overseeing a campaign to clean 10,000 mosques around the country as part of its bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The cleaning campaign kicked off Friday at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta and was witnessed by President Joko Widodo and other officials.

Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi called on officers at mosques nationwide to roll up the carpets and spray disinfectant. The minister also called on worshippers at mosques to avoid any form of physical contact.

Razi said: “We temporarily recommend not to doing hand shaking, kissing on the cheek or other body contact as it is the medium of the transmission."

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Singapore has tightened measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus including expanding border controls, banning cruise ships and limiting mass gatherings.

From Sunday,...