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- A spike in infections in Indonesia's holiday island of Bali and Thailand's first locally transmitted case in 100 days have dealt further blows to Southeast Asian hopes of reviving vital tourism industries.
- The Australian state at the centre of the country's second wave coronavirus outbreak is deepening its contact tracing programme to try to maintain a steady decline in daily new cases.
- Thousands of trainee doctors in South Korea returned to work after ending a more than two-week strike as the country continued to post three-digit rises in new daily infections.
Keeping you up to date on the latest novel coronavirus (Covid-19) news from around the world.
FOLLOW LIVE | SA's Covid-19 death toll at 15 004 with 639 362 confirmed cases, global deaths at 891 227
Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 27.34 million, death toll at 891 227
More than 27.34 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 891 227 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
England's deputy chief medical officer said the rise in the number of cases was of great concern and people had "relaxed too much" over the summer.
The number of confirmed cases in France rose again compared with the previous day, as did the death toll, as the country battles to contain a likely second wave of the virus.
Seven Greek islands have been added to the list of countries from which travellers must quarantine when entering England, British transport minister Grant Shapps said.
Cases are rising in 22 of the 50 US states, according to a Reuters analysis, a worrying trend on a Labour Day holiday weekend traditionally filled with family gatherings and parties to mark the end of summer.
Bali Covid-19 surge blamed on inaccurate rapid tests for visitors
Medical experts have linked a surge in coronavirus cases on Bali to the inaccurate, low-cost rapid antibody test kits that are being used to screen domestic visitors to the Indonesian resort island.
Foreign tourists were banned from entering Indonesia on 2 April, and while a plan to reopen Bali to international travellers this week has been dropped, domestic air travel resumed on 31 July.
Since then, the island has been welcoming an average of 3 000 domestic tourists every day, mostly from the neighbouring island of Java, the country's most densely populated province, and also the worst-hit by the pandemic.
Throughout July and the first half of August, the number of new confirmed cases in Bali fell as low as 27 cases per day on 10 August, with a seven-day average of 40 new cases per day.
But two weeks after the resumption of domestic travel, confirmed cases on the island began spiking, with five record-breaking days peaking at 198 new cases on 4 September. As of Tuesday, Bali had 6 385 confirmed cases and 116 deaths.
-Aljazeera
Striking trainee doctors return to work as South Korea battles second virus wave
Thousands of trainee doctors in South Korea returned to work on Tuesday after ending a more than two-week strike as the country grappled with sustained three-digit rises in new daily coronavirus infections.
The Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 136 new cases as of midnight on Monday, after the rate fell to a three-week low of 119 a day earlier. The total infections rose 21 432, with 341 deaths.
Authorities are weighing whether to extend the social distancing curbs ahead of Chuseok, one of the country's biggest holidays this month, which would see tens of millions of people travel nationwide.
President Moon Jae-in said the daily numbers are expected to drop below 100 by the holiday, though health officials have urged against visits and gatherings.
-Reuters
Australia's coronavirus hot spot state to deepen contact tracing
The Australian state at the centre of the country's second wave coronavirus outbreak is deepening its contact tracing programme to try to maintain a steady decline in daily new cases, amid criticism of its handling of the crisis.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told radio station 3AW on Tuesday that Victoria might have avoided a second wave and been able to ease restrictions sooner if its virus tracing system was more than like that of New South Wales (NSW). Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned of the cost of the Melbourne lockdown to the national economy.
Andrews, while not directly accepting criticism, said on Monday he would set up five "suburban" contact tracing teams specialising in geographic parts of the state, which would make it easier to target specific locations where people had been infected.
He said he would also send representatives to larger NSW, which has kept its daily new infection rate below 22 since April, to observe practices there "to double and triple-check that there's nothing that might be changed, or any insights, any experience".
-Reuters
Hong Kong eases some coronavirus curbs, allows gatherings of four
Hong Kong will expand the size of public gatherings to four people and re-open more sports venues from Friday as the Asian financial hub relaxes strict curbs against a third wave of the coronavirus.
The measures come as new daily cases have dropped into the single digits from three figures. Last week gyms and massage parlours re-opened and night-time dining hours were extended.
Restaurants will be allowed to seat four people, up from two now, while indoor and outdoor recreation spaces will re-open, said Sophia Chan, the city's health secretary, but swimming pools are to stay shut.
"We must strike a balance. The third wave is entering two months already and we have yet to see an end to it," Chan told a news briefing, adding that new infections were being reported each day, some of unknown origin.
A mass testing scheme initiated by China for Hong Kong has picked up 16 new cases from more than 800 000 people tested, the government said on Tuesday. About 1.2 million people in the city have sought tests from a population of 7 million.
-Reuters
Olympics-Japan official says Games must be held next year 'at any cost'
The rearranged Tokyo Games must be held "at any cost" in 2021, Japan's Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference, Hashimoto said the Games should be held for the benefit of the athletes, regardless of the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"Everyone involved with the Games is working together to prepare, and the athletes are also making considerable efforts towards next year," Hashimoto said during a news conference.
"I want to concentrate all our efforts on measures against the coronavirus. I think we have to hold the Games at any cost," she added.
Officials from the Japanese government, local Tokyo government and the Olympics organising committee met for the first time last week to develop steps to counter the coronavirus at the Games.
-Reuters
France's Covid-19 situation 'worrying' but second wave avoidable-minister
France's Covid-19 situation is "worrying", with daily new cases at record levels, but a second wave of infections is "avoidable", health minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday.
"The reproduction rate of the virus stands at 1.2 which is less than the 3.2-3.4 level seen during the spring. So the virus is spreading at lesser speed but it is circulating, which is worrying", Veran told France Inter radio.
-Reuters
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