Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) - Britain's COVID-19 booster vaccine rollout is to be extended to people aged between 40 and 49, officials said on Monday, while the Delta variant now accounts for nearly all of the coronavirus infections globally.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

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EUROPE

* Austria imposed a lockdown on people unvaccinated against the coronavirus as winter approaches and infections rise across Europe, with Germany considering tighter curbs and mandatory vaccinations for using public transport.

* Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday said in a video statement that all Ukrainians who were vaccinated against COVID-19 would receive a 1,000 hryvnia ($38) payment.

* Dutch hospitals are feeling the strain from a surge in COVID-19 patients but the worst has yet to come, the head of the country's hospital association said.

AMERICAS

* Cuba reopened schools and its borders to international tourism on Monday as opposition groups urged supporters to protest for greater political freedoms, setting up a tense showdown between the government and its critics on the Caribbean island.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China is battling the spread of its biggest outbreak, according to the latest numbers, with travellers from a city where infections have grown faster than elsewhere in the country subject to tough quarantine rules in nearby areas.

* Singapore will allow vaccinated arrivals from five more countries, including Indonesia and India, to access the country without quarantine via its travel lanes from Nov. 29, its transport minister said.

* Japan will promote the establishment of production bases for semiconductors, COVID-19 vaccines and drugs as part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's economic stimulus, a draft plan seen by Reuters showed.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* A ban on public sector employees entering their offices if they are unvaccinated and untested for COVID-19 took effect in Egypt on Monday as the government pushes to accelerate vaccination rates in the final weeks of the year.

* Israel's economy is expected to grow 7.1% in 2021 and 4.7% in 2022, the finance ministry said following a rapid recovery.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Spain's medicines agency has authorised Catalonia-based pharmaceutical group Hipra to test a COVID-19 vaccine it is developing on more than 1,000 volunteers, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* The U.S. dollar climbed to a 16-month high Monday while U.S. stocks slipped in midday trading after a strong opening. [MKTS/GLOB]

* U.S. oil producers are struggling to find enough crews, vehicles and equipment to take advantage of rising global demand and a seven-year high in crude prices, say executives at oilfield service firms.

* Japan's economy contracted much faster than expected in the third quarter as global supply disruptions hit exports and business spending while new COVID-19 cases soured the consumer mood, undermining efforts to stoke a virtuous growth cycle.

(Compiled by Federico Maccioni, Juliette Portala and Vinay Dwivedi; Edited by Robert Birsel, Marguerita Choy and Sriraj Kalluvila)

Police officers walk along a shopping street after the Austrian government placed roughly two million people who are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on lockdown, in Vienna, Austria, November 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Children sit after the opening ceremony of the new school year for primary school students, in Havana, Cuba, November 15, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

A '2G' rule sign, allowing only those vaccinated or recovered from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to enter restaurants and other indoor areas, is displayed at the entrance of a restaurant in Berlin, Germany, November 15, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

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