FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus

Japan plans to secure enough coronavirus vaccine to inoculate its population four times over, hoping to instil confidence that it can host the delayed summer Olympics next year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Commission was working on signing further contracts to secure vaccines.

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 summary of news.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* The South Korean government ramped up efforts to end a strike by thousands of the country's doctors, as Seoul took the unprecedented step of restricting eateries in the capital in a bid to blunt a surge in new cases.

* India reported a record daily jump of 77,266 infections, taking its total to 3.39 million. The country has reported the highest single-day caseload in the world every day since Aug. 7, a Reuters tally showed.

* Australia's second-most populous state - the epicenter of the country's latest outbreak - said it expects to soon report just double-digit daily rises in new infections, as astringent lockdown slows the spread of the virus.

EUROPE

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the pandemic was likely to worsen in the coming months, and that her government would respond by prioritizing the welfare of society as a whole, notably its children, and the economy.

* French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his calls for France to have sovereignty in the areas of healthcare and industry, as the country steps up plans to deal with a likely second wave.

* Britain's government will urge people to return to offices and other workplaces where it is safe to do so to help the economy recover, the transport minister said.

* The city of Amsterdam said it was ending an experiment with mandatory use of face masks in crowded public spaces. AMERICAS

* Total deaths in the United States topped 180,000, with many Midwest states seeing record daily jumps.

* Several U.S. states including Texas, Florida, California, and New York will not be heeding to calls to reduce testing of some exposure to the virus.

* A telephone call on economic relief between U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and an adviser to President Donald Trump ended with no breakthrough.

* A Reuters tally showed cases passing the 7-million-mark in Latin America, the region with the most infections in the world.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Gambia extended by 21 days a state of emergency in mainland Africa's smallest nation as infections surged.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Sinovac Biotech Ltd's vaccine candidate CoronaVac was approved in July for emergency use as part of a program in China to vaccinate high-risk groups such as medical staff, a person familiar with the matter said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Germany can afford all the measures agreed to help cushion the economic impact of the virus, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding it was right that other EU states benefited more from coronavirus aid than Germany.

* French president said that 15 billion euros will be made available in France's recovery plan to boost innovation and industrial relocation.

* More than 100 British lawmakers have joined forces with trade union Unite to urge the government to provide extra state support to airlines and airports.

* The Banking Association of South Africa said disbursements of the government-backed coronavirus loan scheme for small businesses are likely to reach just 24.4 billion rands ($1.45 billion) by January amid low demand.