FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* France declared a mandatory quarantine period for people coming from Britain, due to the increasing prevalence there of a highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in India.

* An eight-week decline in Spain's coronavirus infection rate has begun to tail off.

* The infection rate in Germany has fallen below 50 per 100,000 people for the first time since October.

* Almost half of the more than 3.4 million COVID-19 deaths reported so far in the world have occurred in the Americas, but the real numbers may be higher, the Pan American Health Organization warned.

* Canada's latest COVID-19 hotspot of Manitoba was planning to fly additional critically ill patients to other provinces as infections multiply.

* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said it had approved one cruise ship from Royal Caribbean to resume sailing in June, more than a year after U.S. cruising was suspended because of the pandemic.

* Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria will enter a one-week COVID-19 lockdown forcing its near seven million residents to remain home except for essential business as authorities struggle to contain a highly-infectious outbreak.

* Japan has assured the United States that it will keep in close contact about coronavirus concerns ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the White House said.

* The Philippines will allow the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in children aged 12-15.

* Taiwan directly accused China for the first time on Wednesday of blocking a deal with Germany's BioNTech for vaccines.

* Qatar said leisure and education centres and restaurants can reopen at limited capacity as of Friday.

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave an emergency use authorization to the antibody treatment developed by Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in people aged 12 and older.

* Two COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinopharm showed more than 70% efficacy against symptomatic cases, a study showed.

* Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said they were launching the Phase III trial for their experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

* India's Zydus Cadila has sought regulatory approval for clinical trials of its antibody cocktail to treat mild COVID-19.

* Asian shares retreated from two-week highs on Thursday and China started on the backfoot on fears central banks were closer to considering winding back their emergency stimulus while the dollar held at a one-week top.