FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Rising prices, border restrictions and airport chaos are threatening hopes for a post-pandemic summer travel boom in Canada, stalling a tourism recovery and taking the sheen off the country as a destination, analysts and industry executives say. * U.S. deaths from bacteria resistant to antibiotics, also known as 'superbugs', jumped 15% in 2020 as the drugs were widely dispensed to treat COVID-19 and fight off bacterial infections during long hospitalizations, enabling the bugs to evolve, a U.S. government report said.

Anxiety levels rose along with temperatures in Shanghai on Wednesday, as medical workers sweated beneath their hazmat suits while administering compulsory mass testing for COVID-19 in a city that recently emerged from a painful two-month lockdown. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of the news. ASIA-PACIFIC

* Daily COVID-19 infections in South Korea have jumped above 40,000 for the first time in two months, with the government warning of a potential five-fold surge in the coming months. * Australian athletes will be banned from supporting their teammates at other Commonwealth Games events at Birmingham due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, team chef de mission Petria Thomas said.

* Hong Kong needs to allow financial sector employees to travel freely to retain its global investment and banking hub status, an industry report said, as the city continues to maintain some of the strictest coronavirus regulations in the world. EUROPE

* Long-haul travel is back among Danes and even more popular than before the pandemic, as pent-up wanderlust increasingly drives them to venture outside Europe's borders, Scandinavia's largest insurer Tryg said. AMERICAS

* The White House on Tuesday urged Americans over age 50 to get vaccination boosters against COVID-19 as the fast-spreading Omicron BA.5 subvariant takes hold across the United States and said doing so now would not preclude another shot this fall. * Rising prices, border restrictions and airport chaos are threatening hopes for a post-pandemic summer travel boom in Canada, stalling a tourism recovery and taking the sheen off the country as a destination, analysts and industry executives say.

* U.S. deaths from bacteria resistant to antibiotics, also known as 'superbugs', jumped 15% in 2020 as the drugs were widely dispensed to treat COVID-19 and fight off bacterial infections during long hospitalizations, enabling the bugs to evolve, a U.S. government report said. * The White House said on Tuesday it will ensure Americans continue to have easy access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and testing to contain the fast-spreading Omicron BA.5 subvariant that now makes up a majority of U.S. cases.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST * OPEC expect global oil demand to rise in 2023 but at a slower pace than 2022, the producer group said in its first forecast for next year, citing still robust economic growth and progress in containing COVID-19 in China.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * The World Health Organization said COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly 2-1/2 years after it was first declared.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Australian shares slipped, dragged down by mining and energy stocks, hit by subdued commodity and metal prices following fresh COVID-19 curbs in China to control rising cases.

* China's yuan weakened slightly against the dollar on Wednesday, as concerns over fresh COVID-19 outbreaks offset optimism from the country's trade data.