The Delta variant is the fastest, fittest and most formidable version of the COVID-19 virus the world has encountered, and it is upending assumptions about the disease even as nations open their economies, according to virologists and epidemiologists.
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EUROPE
* Britain reported its lowest daily total of new cases since July 4, adding to signs that a recent surge in infections driven by the Delta variant may have passed its peak.
* Greece said children aged 12-15 could be vaccinated with Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots.
* The world must ensure access to food supplies as forcefully as it moved to ensure access to vaccines, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at the opening of the United Nations Food Systems Pre-Summit in Rome.
* Britain's government expanded a program of daily COVID-19 tests to reduce a wave of staff absence.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Thailand reported a record number of infections, while neighbouring Malaysia has more than a million, as the virulent Delta variant carves a deadly path through Southeast Asia, now a global epicentre for the virus.
* China reported the highest daily total of infections since January.
* South Korea said it has been informed by Moderna of an unspecified production issue involving its vaccine.
AMERICAS
* Political leaders in California and New York City ordered government workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face regular tests, while President Joe Biden pushed for people with long-term symptoms to be protected against discrimination.
* The United States will not lift any existing travel restrictions "at this point" because of concerns over the Delta variant, a White House official told Reuters.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Israel is considering giving a third shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to its elderly population even before FDA approval in order to help fend off the Delta variant.
* Libya's government imposed a two-week curfew in some local councils.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Russia has given the green light for clinical trials combining a British shot from AstraZeneca and Oxford University with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to go ahead, according to Russia's state drug register.
* Moderna is in talks with US regulators to expand the size of an ongoing trial testing its COVID-19 vaccines in children aged between five and 11.
* It is a long road back to business as usual from the pandemic, the head of Britain's coronavirus genome sequencing effort told Reuters, adding she was on alert for new mutations to the Delta variant that is sweeping the world.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* US stocks touched record highs in choppy trade on Monday and the dollar weakened, as investors avoided making new, bold bets before this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting, which might offer clues on the outlook for monetary policy.
* Sales of new US single-family homes tumbled to a 14-month low in June and sales in the prior month were weaker than initially estimated.
GLOBAL
DEATHS 4,181,842
CASES 195,276,586
RECOVERED 177,084,885
Australian Associated Press
