As New Zealand grapples with an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 variant, Australia is looking ahead to opening up.
Here's the latest from around the world.
Asia-Pacific
Australia
Australia will stick to its lockdown strategy against the coronavirus until at least 70 percent of its population is fully vaccinated, but after that it will have to start living with the virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.
The country set a record with 914 infections, its highest daily figure, as the southern and eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory remain under a strict lockdown.
New Zealand
New Zealand's COVID-19 outbreak has grown to 72 cases after another 21 were reported on Sunday - 20 of which are in Auckland.
The locations of interest have also ballooned to more than 300, with the majority in Auckland.
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South Korea
South Korea's health ministry said on Sunday Moderna Inc will supply the country with 7.01 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by the first week of September, following a Government request to speed up delivery.
China
Authorities in Shanghai have quarantined hundreds of people in an attempt to halt a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in the city after infections were detected in cargo workers at its airport, the municipal government said on Saturday.
Some 120 people deemed close contacts of the infected five workers at Pudong Airport were placed into quarantine, along with hundreds of others deemed secondary contacts.
Two of the cargo workers, a Chinese national and an Ethiopian national, were included among four locally transmitted cases in mainland China's tally of 20 new confirmed infections for Aug. 20, announced on Saturday.
Taiwan
Taiwan will on Monday begin administering its first domestically-developed COVID-19 vaccine with President Tsai Ing-wen leading the way in getting the shot, as the government casts aside objections they have rushed the approval process.
The government last month approved the emergency use of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp's COVID-19 vaccine, part of a broader plan for inoculation self-sufficiency as delays in vaccine deliveries from global drug companies have affected Taiwan and many other countries.
More than 700,000 people have signed up so far to receive the Medigen vaccine.
Malaysia
Malaysia's new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Sunday he will invite opposition leaders to join the government's special committees to address the COVID-19 crisis, seeking to stabilise politics after years of turmoil.
Ismail Sabri took charge on Saturday with a slim parliamentary majority as the Southeast Asian nation battles its worst COVID-19 surge and public anger grows over mismanagement of the pandemic
Americas
US
The United States has administered 362,657,771 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Sunday morning and distributed 428,531,345 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday.
Those figures are up from the 361,684,564 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Saturday out of 428,506,065 doses delivered.
The agency said 201,425,785 people had received at least one dose while 170,821,621 people are fully vaccinated as of Sunday.
Europe
Russia
Russia reported 20,564 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, including 1,661 in Moscow and 1,481 in St. Petersburg, which took the national tally to 6,747,087.
UK
Britain reported 32,253 new cases of COVID-19, government data showed on Sunday, and a further 49 people were recorded as having died within 28 days of a positive test.
The data compared with 32,058 new cases reported on Saturday and 104 deaths.
Middle East
Israel
A third dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine has significantly improved protection from infection and serious illness among people aged 60 and older in Israel compared with those who received two shots, findings published by the Health Ministry showed on Sunday.
Reuters / Newshub
