Latest figures compiled by AFP have found that nearly 4.8 million people have died from Covid-19 since the outbreak began, according to its tally from official sources.
The death toll stands at 4,793,613, while 234,542,240 positive tests have been recorded.
The World Health Organization estimates that the actual toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to excess mortality linked to Covid.
In the US midwest state of Missouri, Edward Helmore has been looking at how officials fear culture wars could hamper efforts to control the virus when the next wave hits.
The boarded-up storefront of Rae’s Cafe in Blue Springs, Missouri, does not look much like a Covid-19 battleground – but it has become a cause célèbre of the anti-masking movement since owner Amanda Wohletz began a campaign in July to defy local Jackson county mask mandates imposed after Delta variant infections surged.
Despite warnings, citations, the revocation of a food permit and a county health department’s order to close her doors, Wohletz persisted, claiming in court that the mandate ordering everyone five and up is required to wear a face covering when visiting indoor public spaces was “unconstitutionally created” and efforts to enforce it were “unlawful, nonsensical”.
Now the restaurant is shuttered. In a 23 September ruling, a county judge rejected Wohletz’s argument of medical exemptions and that the restaurant could skirt the mandate by operating as a private club. The judge also ordered Rae’s to cease operations until it obtained a valid food permit.
Welcome to Missouri’s Covid culture wars.
Russia has broken its record for Covid deaths in one day, with 890 people dying in the last 24 hours.
Its government’s coronavirus taskforce added it had recorded 25,769 new cases in the last 24 hours, including 4,294 in Moscow. A total of 209,918 people have now died from the virus.
Israel’s government has changed rules on who can use indoor venues and facilities, meaning people will only be able to enter them if they have had a vaccine booster jab, or recovered from the virus recently.
Under guidelines introduced on Sunday, people will only be eligible for the green pass if they have received a booster jab. Those who have already had two jabs will only qualify for the Covid passport if it was within the last six months.
It means that nearly 2 million people will lose their vaccine passport in the coming days, Associated Press reports. It will limit their ability to use shops, restaurants, cultural events and gyms.
More than 60% of Israel’s population has received two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and nearly 3.5 million of Israel’s 9.3 million citizens have received a booster dose of the vaccine.
The world No 2 female tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka, has pulled out of the Indian Wells tennis tournament in the US after testing positive for Covid-19.
Sabalenka, who lost to the Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez in the US Open semi-final last month, was the top seed in the women’s draw at the Indian Wells after world No 1 Ash Barty pulled out.
“Unfortunately I’ve tested positive at Indian Wells and won’t be able to compete,” the 23-year-old Belarusian wrote on her Instagram story.
Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Dubai Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 30 September. Photograph: Kamran Jebreili/AP
Three construction workers at the Expo 2020 world fair in Dubai have died from Covid-19, according to its organiser.
A spokesperson said the deaths occurred over the course of the pandemic, and were in addition to 72 serious injuries among 2000,000 workers during construction on the site, according to Reuters.
“Unfortunately we had three worker related deaths due to Covid. That was during the course of the pandemic,” Expo representative Sconaid McGeachin told a daily briefing.
Overcrowding in worker accommodation was one of the main factors in a surge of infections in the United Arab Emirates at the start of the pandemic. Expo 2020 says worker accommodation is audited to ensure conditions are not cramped. It defended the figure and said it was less than half of that of building work in the UK.
The UAE does not give a breakdown for cases and deaths for each emirate region, including Dubai. More than 80% of its 10 million citizens have been vaccinated.
China has now given out 2.213 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, Reuters reports.
Data from the National Health Commission reported that another 755,000 jabs were administered on Saturday, raising the total.
Good morning from London, I’m Harry Taylor and I’ll be bringing you the latest Covid-19 news and developments from around the world.
Scientists in the UK have warned that the country may still have worse to come during the pandemic, as winter approaches.
They fear that more people will begin socialising inside as the weather gets colder, which increases the chance of transmitting the virus. At the same time many workers have begun returning to offices for the first time in 18 months.
Meanwhile New Zealand has widened its lockdown as the Delta variant has started to spread outside Auckland.
A “short and sharp” lockdown was introduced in mid-August to counter rising cases, but 32 new cases were confirmed in the country’s largest city on Sunday, with two new cases in the Waikato region 147km (91 miles) south of Auckland.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed parts of the region would go into a five-day lockdown.
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