Latest on worldwide spread of coronavirus

An independent panel says Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January 2020 to curb the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until January 30.

EUROPE

* Euro zone finance ministers on Monday pledged continued fiscal support for their economies and discussed post-pandemic recovery plans as the European Commission warned the COVID-19 crisis was making the bloc's economic imbalances worse.

* Faced with record infection rates, Spain has begun giving second vaccine shots to elderly nursing home residents.

* The Czech Republic confirmed the detection of the new, more transmissible variant first found in Britain.

* Germany's health minister said new measures would be needed to slow the spread of more infectious variants of the virus, including more health checks for cross-border commuters and intensified gene sequencing of virus samples.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the government will prolong social distancing measures due to expire this week as the city remains on heightened alert after the number of infections climbed back into triple digits.

* New Zealand said it was looking to secure a small batch of vaccines early to protect its high-risk workers.

* Pakistan on Monday approved the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, two days after AstraZeneca's vaccine developed with Oxford University received a similar authorisation.

AMERICAS

* US President-elect Joe Biden plans to quickly extend restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil, soon after President Donald Trump lifted those requirements.

* Brazil kicked off a nationwide immunisation program on Monday by distributing doses of a vaccine from China's Sinovac.

* The United States called on China to allow an expert team from the WHO to interview "care givers, former patients and lab workers" in the central city of Wuhan, and ensure its access to medical data and samples.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Morocco's health ministry confirmed its first imported case of the more contagious variant first discovered in the UK.

* South Africa, which has yet to receive its first vaccine doses, will be getting nine million from Johnson & Johnson, the health ministry said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Previous infection with the coronavirus may offer less protection against the new variant first identified in South Africa, scientists said on Monday, although they hope vaccines will still work.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian shares climbed on Tuesday as investors wagered China's economic strength would help underpin growth in the region, even as pandemic lockdowns threatened to lengthen the road to recovery in the West.

* European companies hit by COVID-19 could issue "hybrid" shares to plug a predicted capital gap of up to 600 billion euros ($A941.91 billion) when government relief measures expire as vaccination programs are rolled out.

* The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global economic outlook remained highly uncertain given the pandemic, and a growing divergence between rich and poor countries required the IMF to find more resources.