FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Democratic Republic of Congo announced the end of an almost six-month Ebola outbreak in the west of the country as health authorities looked to apply lessons from the successful response to the fight against COVID-19 in Africa. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine triggered a quick immune response but the level of antibodies produced was lower than in people who had recovered from the disease, preliminary trial results showed. * The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 self-testing kit for home use that provides results within 30 minutes.

Daily coronavirus cases in Tokyo and South Korea hit new highs and Australia reported a very contagious virus strain which forced a state-wide lockdown on Wednesday, a day after the number of reported COVID-19 deaths worldwide according to a Reuters tally hit their highest single-day count.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ in an external browser.

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

* Spain's medicines agency has authorised the launch of late-stage trials of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. * A Russian regional governor's decision to be treated for COVID-19 in a private Moscow clinic rather than in his own region drew public criticism, as Russia reported a new record daily high in deaths.

* Poland reported a record 603 new coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours. * Several thousand people gathered in central Berlin to protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel's coronavirus plans.

AMERICAS * U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's top coronavirus advisers warned that President Donald Trump's stalling of the transition could hinder his country's pandemic response.

* The U.S. medical establishment on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump to share critical COVID-19 data with President-elect Joe Biden's team to avoid needless, deadly lags in tackling the raging pandemic, while Biden will meet with healthcare workers in a virtual event on Wednesday. * Brazil's Sao Paulo state is set to begin importing the first of 46 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine this week, while the federal government takes a more cautious approach with a vaccine developed by Pfizer.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Malaysia said it has signed an agreement with China to cooperate on the development of a safe and efficacious vaccine.

* Major food-producing countries are growing increasingly frustrated with China's scrutiny of imported products and are calling on it to stop aggressive testing for the coronavirus. * Taiwan, a poster child for efforts to control the coronavirus, will from next month require almost all visitors to have negative tests before arriving, tightening rules after an uptick in imported cases.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Turkey's government urged "tight discipline" as the country prepared for new weekend curfews, online schooling and limits on restaurants and cafes that are to begin Friday evening and last until the end of the year.

* Zimbabwean authorities have closed a boarding school in the west of the country after at least 100 students tested positive, a state-owned newspaper reported. * Democratic Republic of Congo announced the end of an almost six-month Ebola outbreak in the west of the country as health authorities looked to apply lessons from the successful response to the fight against COVID-19 in Africa.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine triggered a quick immune response but the level of antibodies produced was lower than in people who had recovered from the disease, preliminary trial results showed.

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 self-testing kit for home use that provides results within 30 minutes. * Governments and officials are voicing hopes that COVID-19 vaccines could bring "herd immunity", but some experts say such expectations are misplaced.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Global shares were little changed and oil rose as weak U.S. retail sales and a surge of new cases dampened but did not extinguish the euphoria from recent vaccine breakthroughs.

* Japan's exports extended declines in October but at the slowest pace in almost two years, helped by an improvement in Chinese and U.S. demand for cars and other items. * British inflation picked up by a little more than expected in October as the pandemic continued to affect the cost of goods, official data showed on Wednesday.

(Compiled by Linda Pasquini, Ramakrishnan M., Aditya Soni; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Anil D'Silva and Gareth Jones)