FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Taiwan's economy grew at its slowest pace in two years in the second quarter and performed slightly worse than expected, hit by supply chain woes and a surge in domestic COVID cases, with the outlook for exports clouded by signs of a global slowdown.

Japan is encouraging regional authorities to take steps to contain a new coronavirus variant that has sent cases to record levels, but there is no plan for sweeping national measures. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, click on COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news. ASIA-PACIFIC

* North Korea reported no new fever cases on Saturday for the first time since its acknowledgement of a COVID-19 outbreak in the isolated country in mid-May, state-run media reported. * Russia reported 11,515 new daily cases on Thursday, authorities said, the highest such figure since April 13.

* China needs to rethink its zero-COVID policy to avoid more harm to the economy, as well as come up with a long-term solution to the crisis in the real estate sector, a senior IMF official said. EUROPE

* British employers are their most pessimistic about hiring and investment since the depths of the pandemic crisis due to surging inflation and an acute shortage of workers to fill jobs, a survey showed. AMERICAS

* Moderna said it has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to supply 66 million doses of its bivalent booster vaccine that targets the Omicron variants of the coronavirus. * Coffee shop sales in the United States have not fully recovered from a deep slump early in the pandemic, as most customers are still working from home for at least a third of their work time, a research publication showed.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * People at high risk of severe disease who have yet to get a second COVID-19 booster should not wait for next-generation, Omicron-targeted vaccines expected in the fall, five vaccine experts told Reuters.

* Compared with the earlier Omicron BA.2 subvariant, currently dominant Omicron BA.5 is linked with higher odds of causing a second SARS-COV-2 infection regardless of vaccination status, a study from Portugal suggests. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Taiwan's economy grew at its slowest pace in two years in the second quarter and performed slightly worse than expected, hit by supply chain woes and a surge in domestic COVID cases, with the outlook for exports clouded by signs of a global slowdown. * Japan's factories ramped up output at the fastest pace in more than nine years in June as disruptions due to China's COVID-19 curbs eased, a welcome sign for policymakers hoping the economic outlook will improve.

(Compiled by Uttaresh.V and Devika Syamnath; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Anil D'Silva)