FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not revised its masking guidance, even as the Delta variant of the coronavirus sweeps the United States, driving up infections, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said.

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

EUROPE * Daily contact testing will be rolled out to workplaces in Britain's food sector so staff who have been 'pinged' by the COVID-19 app can keep working if they test negative rather than isolating, the government said.

* European Union countries have so far donated just a tiny portion of excess vaccines to poor nations, mostly AstraZeneca shots, an EU document shows. * British supermarkets said some products were in short supply and petrol stations had been forced to close after the official health app told hundreds of thousands of workers to isolate the following contact with someone with COVID-19.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Olympics organizers said three more competitors at the Tokyo Games, including one resident of the athletes' village, had tested positive for COVID-19. Olympics-related cases rose by 19, organizers said, bringing the total number of disclosed cases to 106.

* Australia's New South Wales state on Friday reported its biggest daily rise in new COVID-19 cases this year, prompting a tighter lockdown in Sydney in what state officials called a "national emergency" that has already derailed a broad economic rebound. * New Zealand will pause its quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia for at least eight weeks starting Friday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as Australia fights an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta virus variant.

* Taiwan will lower its COVID-19 alert level from next week though some restrictions will remain, the government said on Friday, with rapidly falling case numbers giving authorities the confidence to further relax curbs. AMERICAS

* Despite reports of a rare neurological disorder appearing in some people who have received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the benefits of its use outweigh the risks, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel said. * Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will consider evidence suggesting that a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines could increase protection among people with compromised immune systems.

* Two Democratic U.S. senators will add to the stack of bills going after Section 230 - a law that protects tech companies from being sued over content posted by users - making such platforms responsible for health-related misinformation. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Global pharmaceutical firms should license production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy said. * Israel announced plans to allow only people who are deemed immune to COVID-19 or have recently tested negative to enter some public spaces such as restaurants, gyms, and synagogues.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Despite reports of a rare neurological disorder appearing in some people who have received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the benefits of its use outweigh the risks, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Asian share markets were in a mixed mood on Friday after a volatile week in which sentiment over global growth waxed and waned with every new headline on the Delta variant.

* The European Central Bank pledged to keep interest rates at record lows for even longer to boost sluggish inflation and warned that the rapidly spreading Delta variant poses a risk to the euro zone's recovery.