Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The U.S. State Department urged against travel to Japan due to a new wave of COVID-19 infections, issuing a "Do Not Travel" advisory just two months before the Tokyo Olympics are set to take place.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE
* Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in fighting off and neutralizing the aggressive coronavirus variant first discovered in Brazil, according to Russia's Direct Investment Fund and a study conducted by researchers in Argentina.
* Malta has vaccinated 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 shot, becoming the first European Union country to achieve so-called herd immunity, Health Minister Chris Fearne said.

AMERICAS
* The U.S. urged against travel to Japan and Sri Lanka due to a new wave of COVID-19 infections, saying those two nations will now fall under the state department's "Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory.
* Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said 1.3 million vaccines from China had arrived in the South American country, which is poised to start a vaccination campaign in the coming days.

ASIA-PACIFIC
* The Chinese government on Monday offered to urgently send COVID-19 vaccines and medical experts to Taiwan to help it battle a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, but drew a swift and angry response from Taipei.
* Singapore's airport said it was stepping up measures to keep out the coronavirus, including further segregating arrivals and about 14,000 workers into different risk zones, after it became the country's largest active COVID-19 cluster.
* Singapore authorities have provisionally approved a COVID-19 breathalyser test that aims to show whether someone is infected with the coronavirus in under a minute, according to the local startup that developed the product.
* Malaysia said it was investigating allegations that some recipients of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were not injected with the correct dosage.
* A Nepalese government official said many foreign climbers were continuing their attempts to summit Mount Everest despite reports of a COVID-19 outbreak at the base camp of the world's tallest peak.
* Indian government leaders appealed to farmers to call off a mass protest this week for fear it could prove a viral "super-spreader" event as the country's overall death toll from COVID-19 crossed 300,000 on Monday.
* Automakers Renault, its alliance partner Nissan Motor Co and Hyundai Motor Co face temporary factory closures in India due to growing unrest among workers concerned about rising COVID-19 infections.
* Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019, a month before China reported the first cases of COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a U.S. intelligence report.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Bahrain's health ministry on Monday reported 23 deaths from COVID-19, the highest daily toll in the small island nation which has seen a surge in coronavirus cases to record levels.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Pfizer said it began testing fully vaccinated adults over 65 in a new study that uses the company's 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (20vPnC) candidate with a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 shot.

ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Thailand's unemployment rate hit a 12-year high in the first quarter of 2021 due to the renewed impact of coronavirus outbreaks, as the country reimposed measures to contain a third wave of infections, the state planning agency said.
* Global equities gained on Monday while the dollar traded near four-month lows against major currencies as investors eye upcoming U.S. inflation readings for guidance on monetary policy.