Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
Hong Kong Chaos
Hospitals are swamped and supermarket shelves empty as Hong Kong battles its worst COVID outbreak to date with plans to test the entire population and isolate everybody infected.
US Warns Against HK Travel
The United States (US) warns citizens against travelling to Hong Kong, citing the risk of children who test positive being separated from their parents.
New Zealand Protests
New Zealand anti-vaccination demonstrators set alight their own protest camp outside parliament after riot police move to end their weeks-long occupation of the legislative precinct.
Australian PM Infected
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tests positive for COVID-19 but says he will carry on working at home despite having "flu-like" symptoms.
Filipinos Throng Churches
Thousands of Filipinos flocked to churches to observe Ash Wednesday, with Catholic priests and nuns daubing their foreheads with a cross for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mental Health Warning
The pandemic has taken a dire toll on mental health, the World Health Organization (WHO) says, indicating that cases of anxiety and depression had swelled by over 25 percent globally.
Spain's COVID Death Toll Passes 100,000: Health Ministry
More than 100,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Spain, health ministry figures showed on Wednesday as the country emerged from a sixth wave of the pandemic.
Nearly Six Million Dead
The coronavirus has killed at least 5,962,297 since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources on Wednesday.
The US has recorded the most COVID deaths with 952,509, followed by Brazil on 649,630, and India on 514,246.
Taking into account excess mortality linked to COVID, the WHO estimates the true death toll could be two to three times higher.