FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The premier of Australia's New South Wales state on Wednesday ordered a week-long extension of Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown, warning new cases are bound to rise as the country's biggest city grapples with the highly infectious Delta variant. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

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* Fully vaccinated travelers arriving from countries on Britain's "amber list" are set to avoid quarantine from as early as July 19, British media reported. * A mass rapid-testing scheme reduced COVID-19 cases in the English city of Liverpool by more than a fifth, researchers said, arguing it was an effective public health intervention despite concerns over the accuracy of the devices.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Japan's government is floating proposals that would ban fans from all Olympic events, the Mainichi newspaper reported, as officials scramble to address public concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

* Singapore has excluded those who received Sinovac Biotech's shots from its national COVID-19 vaccination count, according to the city-state's health ministry. * South Korea reported its second-highest number of daily new COVID-19 cases ever on Wednesday, just days after it began easing social distancing restrictions in some parts of the country.

* The Philippines will allow a 42-day interval between doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the head of its Food and Drug Administration said, though still below the 90-day interval recommended by the vaccine manufacturer. * Authorities in China's southwestern province of Yunnan reported 15 new confirmed locally transmitted coronavirus cases for July 6, with all cases in the city of Ruili, bordering Myanmar.

* New Zealand said its health regulator Medsafe has given provisional approval for a coronavirus vaccine developed by Janssen, the pharmaceutical unit of Johnson & Johnson. AMERICAS

* U.S. President Joe Biden encouraged Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots to protect themselves from the widely spreading, highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. * Mexican health authorities reported on Tuesday the biggest jump in new daily coronavirus infections since late February.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Tunisia on Tuesday reported a daily record of nearly 8,000 coronavirus cases and 119 deaths.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * The World Health Organization on Tuesday recommended using arthritis drugs Actemra from Roche and Kevzara from Sanofi with corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients after data from some 11,000 patients showed they cut the risk of death.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Asian share markets tumbled on Wednesday as a bout of risk aversion boosted bonds and the dollar, while investors braced for minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting which could confirm a hawkish turn in U.S. monetary policy.

* Japan's coincident indicator index fell for the first time in three months in May, the government said on Wednesday, as measures to stem a rise in coronavirus infections hurt economic activity. * Thailand's economy faced significant downside risks and limited policy room should be preserved to be used for the most effective time, the central bank's minutes of its last meeting showed on Wednesday.