FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The premier of Australia's New South Wales state said she aims to decide within the next 24 hours whether to extend a COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out plans to end restrictions in England in two weeks' time. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

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* Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is in a serious but stable condition after contracting COVID-19 and will remain in hospital, for the time being, the government said. * Coronavirus infections in Spain have risen by 32,607 since Friday, official data showed on Monday, 85% more than the previous weekend's increase as the Delta variant drives a surge among unvaccinated young people.

* Britain is still weighing up whether the benefits of vaccinating children against COVID-19 outweigh the risks given their low rate of severe outcomes from the disease, said Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer. * Greece's vaccinations committee said it recommended inoculating teenagers aged between 15 and 17.

* Airline traffic between Europe and China should resume as soon as possible as vaccination campaigns progress, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said, following a call with the leaders of Germany and China. * Norway announced the easing of some restrictions on Monday but delayed the final phase of reopening the economy until the end of this month at the earliest.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Indonesia has prepared backup health facilities for a worst-case scenario where daily infections reach 40,000 to 50,000, senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters on Tuesday.

* Just 18 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases were detected in New South Wales on Tuesday, half of the previous day's number. * Authorities in China's southwestern province of Yunnan reported three locally transmitted coronavirus cases for July 5, with all cases from the city of Ruili bordering Myanmar, according to Yunnan provincial authorities on Tuesday.

* Bangladesh extended its strictest lockdown to July 14 to combat a surge in coronavirus cases led by the highly contagious Delta variant, with areas bordering India taking the brunt of infections. * Vietnam reported 1,102 new infections on Monday, a record daily increase in cases.

AMERICAS * Brazil's government extended its emergency cash transfer program to poor families during the pandemic for another three months from August.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Ivory Coast began sending mobile clinics on Monday to markets and other busy areas in its main city Abidjan in an effort to turbocharge the vaccination campaign against COVID-19.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * A lack of side effects after receiving an mRNA vaccine does not mean the immune system has failed to respond, and such a type of shot limits rare breakthrough infections, researchers have found.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Most Asian share markets opened a fraction higher on Tuesday, ahead of a key decision by Australia's central bank on its quantitative easing program and despite ongoing concerns over the future regulation of China's powerful technology sector.

* Australia's central bank left its cash rate at a record low of 0.1% on Tuesday and said it was likely to remain there until 2024. * Japan will consider a one-off cash payout of 100,000 yen ($901.55) to its low-income citizens to ease growing social disparity caused by the pandemic, public broadcaster NHK quoted the country's ruling party policy chief as saying.