COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 August

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 211.8 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4.43 million. More than 4.93 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Mainland China has reported no new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 for the first time since July.

Viet Nam has deployed soldiers in Ho Chi Minh City to help enforce COVID-19 restrictions in the business hub.

The Philippines has given emergency use approval to Russia's Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine.

South Korea is set to receive 7.01 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by the first week of September.

Russia has reported 20,564 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national tally to more than 6.74 million. 762 new deaths were also reported, bringing the official COVID-19 death toll to 176,044.

Australia reported a record 914 new daily COVID-19 infections on Sunday. It came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country's lockdown strategy will continue until at least 70% of the population is vaccinated.

Data from the Israeli Health Ministry has shown that a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has significantly improved protection from infection and serious illness among people aged 60 and older.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has extended New Zealand's nationwide lockdown. The level 4 national lockdown was extended by 3 days until midnight on 27 April, while restrictions will remain in place in Auckland until at least 31 August.

"The safest option for all of us right now is to hold the course for longer," Ardern said at a news conference.

"If the world has taught us anything, it is to be cautious with this variant of COVID-19," she added.

Contacts in the community by people infected with the Delta variant have been reported all over the country, she added. Some 13,000 contacts and more than 320 locations of interest have been recorded so far - far more than in previous outbreaks.

35 new cases were reported earlier today, taking the total in this new outbreak to 107.

3. AstraZeneca antibody therapy reduces risk of COVID-19 symptoms, study

Trial data from AstraZeneca has shown that its new antibody therapy reduced the risk of people developing any COVID-19 symptoms by 77% in a late-stage trial.

It raises the prospect of a COVID-19 treatment beyond vaccines, giving particular hope for people who respond poorly to immunisation shots.

While vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop an arsenal of targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, AstraZeneca's AZD7442 therapy consists of lab-made antibodies that are designed to linger in the body for months to stifle the coronavirus in case of an infection.