• India's official coronavirus death soared past 50 000.
• Hong Kong reported 44 new coronavirus cases.
• Britain on Monday urged elderly people and volunteers from Black and Asian minority groups to sign up to a Covid-19 vaccine trial registry.

Keeping you up to date on the latest novel coronavirus (Covid-19) news from around the world.

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Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 21.74 million, death toll at 774 785

More than 21.74 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 774 785 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

 - REUTERS

Britain on Monday urged elderly people and volunteers from Black and Asian minority groups to sign up to a Covid-19 vaccine trial registry to boost efforts to find a working vaccine against the disease that offers protection against higher risk groups.

No Covid-19 vaccine candidate has yet been proven effective against the disease, but around 20 are in clinical trials.

Over 100 000 people have volunteered to take part in vaccine trials, Britain's business ministry said, but more volunteers are needed to make sure candidate shots work for everyone.

"Protecting those at risk is the only way we will end this pandemic," said Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccines Taskforce.

"Getting 100 000 volunteers on board is a great start but we need many more people from many different backgrounds that we can call on for future studies if we are to find a vaccine quickly to protect those who need it."

 - REUTERS

Hong Kong reported 44 new coronavirus cases on Monday as the government announced an extension to social distancing measures aimed at controlling further spreading of the virus, which has seen a resurgence in the Asian financial hub since early July.

While the number of daily cases have come down from triple digits in recent weeks, authorities have cautioned residents from becoming complacent, warning that the situation remained "severe".

Restrictions including a ban on dining at restaurants from 18:00 and the mandating of masks in all outdoor public areas are set to remain in force for a further seven days until 25 August, the government said in a statement on Monday.

Out of the 44 cases recorded on Monday, 31 of them were local transmissions.

Since late January, over 4 500 people have been infected in Hong Kong, 69 of whom have died. Monday's figure was down from Sunday's 74 cases.

 - REUTERS

India coronavirus deaths hit 50 000

India's official coronavirus death soared past 50 000 on Monday as the pandemic rages through smaller cities and rural areas where health care is feeble and stigmatisation rife.

Many experts say the real numbers may be far higher due to low testing rates and because deaths are often not properly recorded in the vast and impoverished nation of 1.3 billion people.

India last week overtook Britain with the world's fourth-highest number of fatalities, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico, and as of Monday had recorded 50 921 deaths, according to the health ministry.

With some of the world's biggest megacities and slums, India is already the third-most infected nation behind the US and Brazil with 2.65 million infections.

Despite the rising death toll, the health ministry said on Sunday that India's virus mortality rate of 1.92 percent was "one of the lowest globally".

- AFP

Ghana leader says airports may reopen next month

President Nana Akufo-Addo has indicated that Ghana's international airport may reopen next month after measures are set in place to test arriving passengers for coronavirus.

"I know many still ask when our borders, especially our international airport, Kotoka International Airport, will be open," Akufo-Addo said in a televised address late Sunday.

"Under my instructions, the Ministry of Aviation, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Airports Co Ltd, have been working with the Ministry of Health and its agencies to ascertain our readiness to reopen our airport," he said.

"I want to ensure that we are in a position to test every single passenger that arrives in the country to avoid the spread of the virus," he said.

"The outcome of that exercise will show us the way, and determine when we can reopen our border by air. I am hoping that, by God's grace, we will be ready to do so by 1st September."

- AFP

Philippine minister tests positive for virus for second time

A Philippine government minister has tested positive for coronavirus five months after an initial diagnosis, authorities said Monday, as experts investigate whether he had been re-infected.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, who is helping to spearhead the country's virus response, said he returned a positive test on Saturday after experiencing flu-like symptoms last week.

He was first diagnosed with Covid-19 in March, but did not show any signs of the disease at the time.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said experts were analysing Ano's symptoms, his previous positive test, and laboratory results to see if this is a second infection.

"Let's not call it a re-infection. The scientific community has not yet accepted that a re-infection occurs," Vergeire cautioned.- AFP