What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

While Democratic leaders and others are criticizing President Donald Trump's declaration that he has been taking a malaria drug he has promoted to help fend off the new coronavirus, the announcement will likely be welcomed in India.

Trump told reporters Monday he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily “for about a week and a half now.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells CNN she would rather Trump not be taking something that hasn’t been approved by scientists, citing his age and calling the president “morbidly obese.”

Trump’s previous endorsement of hydroxychloroquine sparked India, the world’s largest producer of the drug, to make much more of it, prescribe it for health workers treating the coronavirus and deploy it as a diplomatic tool.

Here are some of AP’s top stories Tuesday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:

— Coronavirus cases have been spiking in several populous nations, a clear indication that the pandemic is far from over. New cases are sprouting up from India to South Africa to Mexico, while Russia and Brazil now sit behind only the United States in the number of reported infections. Russia saw a steady rise of new infections Tuesday and new hot spots have emerged.

— Health experts say the increasing attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump on the World Health Organization for its handling of the coronavirus could weaken global health. In a letter to the WHO on Monday, Trump threatened to permanently cut U.S. funding to the agency unless it commits to “substantive improvements” in the next 30 days. Critics say it shows a...