FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Cases of COVID-19 spiked in some areas of China and Japan, while a large mask-free public event was held in North Korea for the first time since May. 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.

Cases of COVID-19 spiked in some areas of China and Japan, while a large mask-free public event was held in North Korea for the first time since May. 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 the news. ASIA-PACIFIC

* China's central metropolis of Wuhan temporarily shut some businesses and public transport in a district with almost a million people on Wednesday, as the city where the pandemic first emerged raised vigilance after several new infections. * Toyota Motor suspended night shift operations at one production line of its Takaoka factory in central Japan because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

* North Korea held a large mask-free public event for the first time since declaring a COVID-19 emergency in May, honoring veterans of the 1950-53 Korean war just days after saying its coronavirus crisis was nearly over. * New Zealand said new COVID-19 cases were trending down and it looked likely the country would avoid a feared worst-case scenario of 20,000 infections daily.

EUROPE * British health agencies have secured funding to develop a standardized approach to test the performance of vaccines being used or in development against monkeypox, days after the WHO labeled the growing outbreak a global health emergency.

AMERICAS * COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech said it and partner Pfizer have filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, seeking a judgment that they did not infringe U.S. patents held by rival CureVac.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * An experimental chewing gum that "traps" SARS-CoV-2 particles in saliva holds promise for curbing transmission of new variants of the virus, according to new data, as researchers prepare to launch the first human trial.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * China's gold consumption fell 12.84% to 476.82 tonnes in the first half of the year from the corresponding 2021 period as coronavirus outbreaks hit demand.

* North Korea's economy shrank in 2021 for a second straight year after suffering its biggest contraction in more than two decades the previous year amid U.N. sanctions and COVID-19 lockdowns, South Korea's central bank said on Wednesday.