What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: 'Freedom Day' dawns in England

From midnight, laws in England requiring facemasks to be worn in shops and other indoor settings will lapse, as will capacity limits in bars and restaurants, and rules limiting the number of people who can socialize together. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in self-isolation along with Finance Minister Rishi Sunak after being exposed to a person with COVID-19, ends more than a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, dubbed "Freedom Day" urging the public to remain cautious but putting his faith in vaccines to protect the country even as infections are surging.

S.Korea military suffers worst COVID-19 outbreak South Korea's military has recorded its biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections to date, with more than 80% of personnel aboard a destroyer that left South Korea in February to start an anti-piracy patrol mission in the Gulf of Aden testing positive.

Citing military sources, Yonhap news agency reported none of the affected personnel aboard the destroyer were classified as severe cases, though one person has developed conditions that require close observation. The country's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday that just 50 of the ship's complement of 301 personnel have tested negative in an outbreak first reported on July 15. Authorities have begun an operation to airlift them home, while a replacement team will steer the vessel back home.

Australia to extend COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria Australian authorities on Monday said Victoria state will extend a COVID-19 lockdown beyond Tuesday despite a slight drop in new infections as the country's two biggest cities fight to stop the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said lockdown rules would not be lifted as cases were still being detected in the community, promising more details would be provided on Tuesday. Australia could be heading into a new cycle of stop-and-start lockdowns until the end of the year until it hits high vaccination coverage, experts have said.

Singapore advises unvaccinated people to stay home Singapore's health ministry on Sunday "strongly" advised unvaccinated individuals, especially the elderly, to stay home as much as possible over the next few weeks, citing heightened concerns about the risk of community spread of COVID-19.

The country reported 88 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest daily toll since August last year, driven by growing clusters of infections linked to karaoke bars and a fishery port. As a precaution, authorities on Sunday shut fresh fish and seafood stalls in markets across the city-state as it tested fishmongers for COVID-19. As Singapore's vaccination rates rise and it prepares to live with the virus, the government has said it will look beyond case numbers at the severity of illnesses to decide on further virus measures.

COVID-19 response runs underground in junta-ruled Myanmar Funded by donors on social media, a grassroots effort is growing in Myanmar to combat COVID-19 that bypasses the authorities and echoes the way Myanmar's people responded to crises during previous decades of army rule.

A health system that was already among the region's weakest foundered after the coup as many health workers joined a Civil Disobedience Movement to oppose the junta. COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and prevention measures all stalled. "Now we are suffering the third wave of COVID. We don't know how many more waves there we will be," one of the organizers told Reuters by phone, declining to be named for fear of reprisals. "We now have to act as though we don't have any government." 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)