FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Vietnam, virus-free for months, is bracing for another wave of COVID-19 infections after state media reported new cases in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands linked to a recent outbreak in the central city of Danang. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * The Namibian government has approached the International Monetary Fund for a 4.5 billion Namibian dollars ($274 million) emergency loan to help fight the pandemic. * Iran registered a record 235 deaths from the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours, according to official health ministry figures released on Tuesday.

Deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 150,000 in the United States on Wednesday, more than any other country and nearly a quarter of the world's total, according to a Reuters tally, delivering fresh blows to the U.S. economy.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser. * Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and a summary of developments.

EUROPE * France's health minister urged the country not to drop its guard against the novel coronavirus, saying it faced a long battle and that observing social distancing rules was vital to avoiding a new national lockdown.

* Sixty-five migrants who were in a group of 94 people rescued at sea and brought to Malta on Monday have tested positive for COVID-19, Malta's health ministry said on Tuesday. AMERICAS

* U.S. congressional Republicans and Democrats, struggling to reach a deal for new economic aid to those hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, were sliding toward letting a $600-per-week unemployment benefit lapse, at least temporarily, when it expires on Friday. * Brazil's coronavirus outbreak set daily records on Wednesday with both 69,074 new confirmed cases and 1,595 related deaths, as the world's second-worst outbreak accelerates toward the milestone of 100,000 lives cut short.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has warned the city is on the brink of a large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible as strict new measures take effect.

* Australia has sent defence and emergency medical teams, usually deployed to disaster zones, to aged care homes in the city of Melbourne to help contain the country's worst outbreak of the coronavirus. * Vietnam, virus-free for months, is bracing for another wave of COVID-19 infections after state media reported new cases in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands linked to a recent outbreak in the central city of Danang.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * The Namibian government has approached the International Monetary Fund for a 4.5 billion Namibian dollars ($274 million) emergency loan to help fight the pandemic.

* Iran registered a record 235 deaths from the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours, according to official health ministry figures released on Tuesday. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Germany awarded three biotech companies grants to help them speed up the development of vaccine candidates, but the research minister said any vaccine was unlikely to be widely available before the middle of next year. * Britain has signed a deal for up to 60 million doses of a possible COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, its fourth such arrangement.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT * The surge in U.S. coronavirus cases and the restrictions aimed at containing it have begun to weigh on the economic recovery, the head of the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

* U.S. stocks gained further and the U.S. dollar fell on Wednesday as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates at ultra-low levels * Euro zone governments borrowing from their bailout fund would now have to pay back less than they received, and the most affected southern countries would benefit the most.

* The German economy is likely growing by 3% in the current quarter, partly recovering from the slump caused by the pandemic, economic institute DIW said. * The Bank of Japan will not rule out deepening negative interest rates as part of efforts to cushion the economic blow from the pandemic.

(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Shailesh Kuber; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Anil D'Silva)