COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 31 January

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 374.7 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.66 million. More than 10.06 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Australia has reported its lowest daily COVID-19 death toll in two weeks, and cases also continue to trend lower. However, with schools set to reopen after the summer holidays, authorities are preparing for staff shortages.

The UK is set to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to vulnerable children aged 5 to 11. It's been slower than some countries to offer the shots to 5 to 11-year-olds and doesn't plan to offer the shot more widely in the age group.

Qatar has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years.

The US government has purchased more than 100 million additional COVID-19 tests as part of the White House's plans to distribute 500 million free at-home tests across the country.

The European Commission approved Pfizer's antiviral pill for COVID-19 on Friday, a day after the region's health regulator endorsed the tablet. The move should ensure wide availability of the treatment to EU member states.

Germany has the wave of infections from the Omicron COVID-19 variant 'well under control' and may consider lifting some restrictions after a peak in late February, its health minister said on Friday.

Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said on Friday six lab studies showed their experimental oral COVID-19 drug molnupiravir was active against the Omicron variant.

The Omicron COVID-19 variant now accounts for the bulk of COVID-19 cases across the globe. The most common form of Omicron is known as BA.1.

Scientists are now tracking cases caused by a close cousin - BA.2. Several countries are reporting cases increases in the BA.2 subvariant, according to the World Health Organization.

In addition to BA.1 and BA.2, the WHO lists two other subvariants under the Omicron umbrella: BA.1.1.529 and BA.3. All are closely related genetically, but each features mutations that could alter how they behave.

Some early reports indicate that BA.2 might be even more infectious than the already extremely contagious BA.1, but there is no evidence so far that it is more likely to evade vaccine protection. Danish health officials estimate it might be 1.5 times more transmissible than BA.1, however, it likely does not cause more severe disease.

And a UK Health Security Agency study, suggests that the BA.2 subtype has a significant growth advantage over BA.1.

More countries have reported record daily COVID-19 caseloads over recent days.

Russia's daily confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 100,000 for the first time on Saturday, with 113,122 new cases reported. It came as the country's confirmed COVID-19 deaths passed 700,000 on Friday.

Ukraine also reported a record confirmed daily case tally on Saturday, with 37,351 new COVID-19 infections.

And in Turkey, 94,783 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, the country's highest confirmed daily figure of the pandemic.