Coronavirus: latest global developments

The pandemic has killed at least 689,758 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, with at least 18 million people infected, according to an AFP tally on Monday based on official sources.

The United States has the most deaths with 154,860, followed by Brazil with 94,104, Mexico 47,746, the United Kingdom with 46,201 and India with 38,135 fatalities.

Belgium has the highest per capita death rate with 849 per million of the population.

- May never be a 'silver bullet' -

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that there might never be a "silver bullet" answer to the new coronavirus, despite the rush to discover effective vaccines.

- Melbourne under curfew -

As Australia's second city starts a six-week curfew, officials order non-essential businesses to close from midnight Wednesday as they struggle to control a coronavirus outbreak.

Meat production and construction firms will also be ordered to scale down operations from Friday.

- Manila back in lockdown -

The Philippines capital Manila and four surrounding provinces on the main island of Luzon go back under lockdown on Tuesday affecting 27 million people, under measures announced by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Since the beginning of June, when much of the country emerged from one of the world's longest stay-at-home orders, confirmed infections in the archipelago have increased fivefold, surging past 100,000.

- German demos 'unacceptable' -

The German government condemns "unacceptable" violations of coronavirus restrictions after tens of thousands -- many with no masks -- take to the streets of Berlin to protest the measures over the weekend.

- US in 'new phase' -

The United States has entered a "new phase" of the pandemic, top White House coronavirus advisor Deborah Birx warns, with rural areas just as threatened as major cities.

Birx, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, tells CNN that "what we are seeing today is different from March and April... It is extraordinarily widespread. It's into the rural as equal urban areas."

- Russia aims at vaccines -

Russia says it aims to launch mass production of a coronavirus vaccine next month and turn out "several million" doses per month by next year.

The country is pushing ahead with several vaccine prototypes and one prepared at the Gamaleya institute in Moscow has reached advanced stages of development.

- Bottom lines hammered - 

Asia-focused banking giant HSBC becomes the latest global company to suffer heavy losses due to the virus, as its first half post-tax profits for 2020 plunged 69 percent year on year.

Japan Airlines also says it suffered a quarterly net loss of $885 million as the pandemic halted air travel around the world.