FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Canada attracted more than one million travelers in a week for the first time since the pandemic, government data showed on Friday, as easing of COVID-19 border restrictions encouraged visitors back into the country. 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. ASIA-PACIFIC

* After three weeks of lockdown, Shanghai's authorities warned residents their purgatory would go on until the coronavirus was eradicated neighbourhood by neighbourhood, while Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand announced a loosening of restrictions. * China will step up credit support and insurance protection for sectors and SMEs that have been greatly affected by the COVID epidemic, its banking and insurance regulator said.

EUROPE * British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would still be prime minister in October, addressing doubts about his future after he was fined by police for breaching strict lockdown rules that he set.

* Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor said it would open a preliminary inquiry into alleged corruption by companies purportedly linked to government ministers that won lucrative contracts during the pandemic. * Poland can reach a compromise with Moderna on increasing the flexibility of COVID-19 vaccine contracts, the health minister said.

AMERICAS * Most Americans support a flexible approach to the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, with cities reimposing mask mandates when cases surge, even as a growing number are eager to get on with their lives, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

* COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States for the second year in a row in 2021, with death rates rising for most age groups, a government study showed. * Mexican officials are concerned the repeal of a measure adopted under the Trump administration during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, to tighten their shared border, will encourage a spike in migration and more profits for criminal gangs unless Washington does more to help mitigate the impact.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST * Israel told its citizens on Wednesday they could stop wearing masks indoors, its second such revision after the measure was briefly dropped and then restored last year in response to a rise in cases.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * A European Medicines Agency committee recommended approving the use of Pfizer and BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, as a booster for adults who have previously been inoculated with other vaccines.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Oil slipped, burdened by the prospect of weaker global growth, higher interest rates and COVID lockdowns in China hurting demand, as the European Union considers a ban on Russian oil that would further tighten supply.

* Chinese shares posted their biggest weekly drop in six weeks and the yuan extended losses as strict lockdowns paralysed economic activity in many big cities, even as authorities vowed to provide more help to hard-hit firms. (Compiled by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Olivier Sorgho; Edited by Kirsten Donovan and Sriraj Kalluvila)