FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

With major Asian countries easing COVID-19 restrictions, data is likely to point to a recovery in their economies, while vaccine makers elsewhere are seeking to tweak their shots to combat new variants of the novel coronavirus.

With major Asian countries easing COVID-19 restrictions, data is likely to point to a recovery in their economies, while vaccine makers elsewhere are seeking to tweak their shots to combat new variants of the novel coronavirus. 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

* China's factory activity likely expanded in June for the first time in four months, driven by a faster recovery in production and an easing of supply chain snags as manufacturing hubs emerged from lockdowns, a Reuters poll showed. * Japanese retail sales rose for a third month in May, reinforcing views that strong consumption will lead an economic rebound this quarter, although rising inflation poses a risk to household spending for the rest of 2022.

EUROPE * Ireland agreed to put the army on standby to help with security at Dublin airport should staffing be hit by a resurgence of COVID-19 during the rest of the busy summer travel period.

AMERICAS * Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended a change in the design of COVID-19 booster shots this fall to combat more recently circulating variants of the coronavirus.

* The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron are estimated to make up a combined 52% of the coronavirus cases in the United States as of June 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Pfizer and Moderna said they will be ready with COVID-19 vaccines designed to combat the BA.1 Omicron variant that was dominant last winter earlier than those designed to target currently dominant subvariants. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* China's economy has recovered to some extent, but its foundation is not solid, state media quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying.