FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Germany should make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all adults, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament. * Greece will extend restrictions at restaurants and bars by a week to help curb the spread of the Omicron variant.[nL8N2TS4X0 AMERICAS * Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva retains a clear lead for this year's presidential election in Brazil, where inflation and the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic most worry voters, a poll showed.

The spread of COVID-19 in the Americas driven by the Omicron variant of the virus has reached levels of transmission never before seen in the pandemic, with cases doubling to 6.1 million over the past week, the Pan American Health Organization 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

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised for attending a "bring your own booze" gathering at his official residence during the UK's first lockdown, as a senior figure in his party and opponents said he should resign. * Denmark is to offer a fourth coronavirus vaccination to vulnerable citizens and will ease restrictions at the end of the week, while Sweden will cut the recommended interval between the second and third jabs to five months from six.

* Anti-vaccine protesters tried to storm the Bulgarian parliament and briefly scuffled with police officers during a massive rally against coronavirus restrictions in downtown Sofia. * Germany should make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all adults, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament.

* Greece will extend restrictions at restaurants and bars by a week to help curb the spread of the Omicron variant.[nL8N2TS4X0 AMERICAS

* Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva retains a clear lead for this year's presidential election in Brazil, where inflation and the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic most worry voters, a poll showed. * The Biden administration announced new measures to keep U.S. schools open, including increased testing capacities.

* Colombia will let people get their booster vaccines four months after completing their initial vaccination course. * Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is continuing to recover from COVID-19, the country's interior minister said.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Tennis champion Novak Djokovic blamed human error for a mistake in his Australian immigration paperwork and apologised for breaking isolation for a photoshoot when he had COVID-19 last month.

* Japan recorded a surge in new cases, with infections reaching four-month highs in the metropolitan areas of Tokyo and Osaka. * South Korea authorised the use of Novavax's vaccine and is preparing to distribute Pfizer's antiviral pill Paxlovid.

* Central Asian neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan reported jumps in new cases as both countries said the Omicron variant was now spreading on their territories. AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

* A senior official in Tunisia's main opposition party told Reuters it planned to go ahead with a protest despite new restrictions including a ban on all gatherings. * Morocco is considering wage hikes for health workers and tax incentives to attract foreign investors and doctors to plug shortages in the health system.

* Saudi Arabia has registered its highest daily number of new infections, breaking through 5,000 cases on Wednesday. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The FDA amended the fact sheet for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine to include a rare risk of immune thrombocytopenia, a bleeding disorder. * The Omicron variant causes less severe disease than the Delta strain but it remains a "dangerous virus", particularly for those who are unvaccinated, the head of the WHO said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * World equity markets edged higher while U.S. Treasury yields dipped after the latest U.S. inflation data showed price pressures that were still within expectations, reinforcing bets the Federal Reserve will soon be raising interest rates.

* The Bank of Japan offered its most optimistic view of the country's regional economy in more than eight years, in a sign of its confidence that a recent resurgence in infections would not derail Japan's fragile recovery. (Compiled by Valentine Baldassari, Alexander Kloss and Sarah Morland; Edited by Frank Jack Daniel and Gareth Jones)