COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 12 November

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 252 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.08 million. More than 7.36 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

A growing COVID-19 cluster in China's Dalian has spurred the northeastern port city to limit outbound travel, cut offline school classes and close a few cultural venues after being told by national authorities to contain the outbreak more quickly.

Austria is days away from placing millions of people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on lockdown, as daily infections are at a record high and intensive-care units are increasingly strained, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Thursday.

People coming to work in offices in the Philippines will have to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested frequently, the president's office said on Friday, as the country battles one of Asia's worst outbreaks.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has outlined an urgent plan to increase hospital beds and medical resources in preparation for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections this winter. Since a fifth wave of infections almost overwhelmed the medical system this summer, cases and deaths have fallen as vaccinations have increased to cover more than 70% of the population.

Malaysia's economy shrank 4.5% in the third quarter of this year, contracting by more than expected after its rebound in the second quarter, but the central bank expects a quick recovery as coronavirus restrictions are eased and economic activities resume.

Moderna Inc has offered to sell its COVID-19 vaccines to the African Union at $7 a shot, John Nkengasong, Head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, said on Thursday - this is half the price paid by the United States earlier in the year.

The Netherlands will impose Western Europe's first partial lockdown since the summer this weekend, in a bid to stop a surge in COVID-19 cases, Dutch broadcaster NOS said on Friday.

Bars and restaurants will be ordered to close early for at least three weeks starting Saturday, NOS said, citing government sources.

People will be urged to work from home as much as possible, and no audiences will be allowed at sporting events in the coming weeks. Schools, theatres and cinemas would remain open.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's cabinet will take a final decision later on Friday, and will announce the new measures during a televised press conference scheduled for 1800 GMT.

New coronavirus infections in the country of 17.5 million have increased rapidly after social distancing measures were dropped in late September and hit a record of around 16,300 in 24 hours on Thursday.

People who are still not vaccinated as the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic takes hold in Germany must understand they have a duty to the rest of society to protect others, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

Merkel, being interviewed by Microsoft president Brad Smith at an Asia-Pacific business summit, said it was the task of politicians to make the case for serious interventions by being honest with the public.

Coronavirus case numbers have surged across Europe in recent weeks, with experts worrying that health systems risk once again being overwhelmed, in part because unvaccinated people are still spreading the disease to the older and more vulnerable.

"We have to make it clear that I have the right to get vaccinated, and that is a great fortune, a huge achievement of science and technology," Merkel said over a video link. "But I also have a certain obligation to contribute to protecting society."

She added that the challenges of the pandemic and of climate change were similar, since they were both exponential processes whose severity was hard to recognize at the start of a growth curve.

"When you see the start of an exponential increase you have to act immediately, and an understanding of what exponential means isn't widespread in our societies," Merkel said.

"That's also why we have been so unconcerned about climate change - that also has exponential growth and we have to act at a time when it is not at all visible how the numbers will grow."