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Thank you for following along with 9News.com.au's continuing live coverage of the coronavirus crisis on Thursday, May 21.

To keep up to date with all the latest information and events from Friday, May 22, click here.

Australians are waking on Friday to the following overnight updates:

- One in five Australian parents is drinking either daily or every second day during lockdown, according to new statistics, leading health experts to issue a warning about the possible impacts on kids.

- Retail giant Myer plans to reopen almost all stores across the country next week, ramping up safety and cleaning measures and suspending some close-contact services like shoe fittings after weeks without any customers.

- The US appears to be flexing its military strength with increased sea flyovers near China, as acrimony between the two countries over coronavirus continues to build.

- Tensions between NSW and multiple other states are high, with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk the latest to say her state won't be "lectured to" on the subject of reopening state borders. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pushed for the rest of the country to allow interstate holiday travellers, but Queensland insists borders will remain closed until southern states bring virus cases under control.

- The Victorian Government has so far issued 5719 fines for breaches of COVID-19 restrictions, collecting at least $9.4 million from on-the-spot infringements. The total is likely to be even higher, as businesses breaking the rules incur even heftier penalties.

Budget airline EasyJet says it will start flying again beginning June 15 after being grounded during the pandemic.

The airline says it will resume a small number of domestic flights and a minimal number of international ones in the UK, France, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain.

EasyJet expects to increase its schedule as restrictions are relaxed.

Company CEO Johan Lundgren says in a statement enhanced safety measures will be put in place, including disinfecting the aircraft and asking customers to wear masks on board.

The S&P 500 index has opened largely unchanged as growing US-China trade tensions and concerns about a rebound from a coronavirus-led economic slump were offset by an upbeat outlook from retailer TJX, a discount chain whose shares jumped 7.6 per cent after reopening stores.

A fall in unemployment claims from the previous week also lifted sentiment as the reading reaffirmed views that the worst of the pandemic's damage on the labour market was over.

A Wall Street rally from April has slowed this month as investors weighed massive stimulus measures against worsening economic indicators and the return of US-China trade tensions to the forefront.

The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and no new low while the Nasdaq recorded 31 new highs and two new lows.

– Reported with AAP

The Nasdaq studio, which displays indices and stocks down, in Times Square, New York. (Source: Associated Press)

Scotland's leader has presented a "route map" for easing coronavirus restrictions in the months ahead while observing social distancing guidelines.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told Scottish lawmakers the lockdown will be loosened in three-week intervals, subject to progress in virus control. But, she added, the proposals "cannot be set in stone".

Starting May 28, two households may see each other in small groups in "outdoor spaces". That's more than what is now allowed in England, where only individuals from two households can meet outside.

Other planned changes in Scotland beginning next week include the reopening of gardening stores and allowing noncontact outdoor leisure activities, such as golf and fishing.

Schools, though, will not reopen until Augugst 1. Some English schools may be reopening June 1.

— Reported with Associated Press

The United Kingdom government has confirmed another 338 people have died in the nation from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

The UK's coronavirus death toll is now up to at least 36,042 while the number of cases in the country jumped by 2615 to 250,908.

More than 2.4 million people applied for US unemployment benefits last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the viral outbreak that triggered widespread business shutdowns two months ago and sent the economy into a deep recession.

Roughly 38.6 million people have now filed for jobless aid since the coronavirus forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces, the country's Labour Department said Thursday.

An additional 2.2 million people sought aid under a new federal program for self-employed, contractor and gig workers, who are now eligible for jobless aid for the first time.

The continuing stream of heavy job cuts reflects an economy that is sinking into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

During April alone, US employers shed 20 million jobs, eliminating a decade's worth of job growth in a single month.

The unemployment rate reached 14.7 per cent, the highest since the Depression. Since then, 10 million more laid-off workers have applied for jobless benefits.

Major department store Myer will reopen the rest of its stores across Australia next week, as retailers get back to business amid COVID-19.

The bulk of the retailer's 60 stores will all be open on Wednesday after almost two-months without customers inside the shops.

All Victorian Myer stores, including at Chadstone and Bourke St will be among those to reopen.

Some shoppers will get instore sooner with trial stores including in NSW's Blacktown, Eastgardens and Charlestown opening on Friday.

Several Myer stores in NSW, Queensland, WA and South Australia have already opened in line with governments' COVID-19 measures.

Over in WA, the Karrinyup store will open a little later next Saturday as refurbishment works are under way.

The retail giant has ramped up safety and cleaning measures in its stores, and suspended some close contact services like shoe fittings.

FULL STORY: Myer reopening all Australian stores next week

The African continent needs to test about 10 times the number of people it has already tested for the coronavirus, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Director John Nkengasong says Africa should strive to test at least 1 per cent of the population of 1.3 billion people - or 13 million people - but so far just 1.3 million to 1.4 million tests have been conducted.

Africa's number of virus cases is above 95,000 and could surpass 100,000 by the weekend. The continent has seen roughly the same number of new cases in the past week as the week before, and Nkengasong says that "we hope that trend continues."

Pictured: A volunteer applies a semi-permanent ink for people to receive food donations at the Iterileng informal settlement near Laudium, southwest of Pretoria, South Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

While early lockdowns delayed the pandemic, he says "that doesn't mean Africa has been spared."

But he says health officials are not seeing a lot of community deaths or "massive flooding of our hospitals" because of COVID-19.

Countries with fragile health systems and a recent history of conflict like Somalia and South Sudan, however, remain "very concerning" as cases rise quickly.

Somalia has reported more than 1500 cases but aid groups worry the real number is far higher. South Sudan has more than 280 cases.

Pictured: People queue to collect food at a distribution point at the Itereleng informal settlement in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, May, 20, 2020, as the country marked day 55 of a government lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.