UK coronavirus vaccine shows early promise - Live updates

• Scientists at Oxford University said their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot
• Several banks in Hong Kong closed branches or curtailed their working hours on Monday after a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases over the weekend.
• US President Donald Trump has insisted that the coronavirus will be brought "under control" even as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported at least 67,574 new cases and at least 877 more deaths in the country.
• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ventured out of his official residence, Alvorada Palace, on Sunday to speak and greet his supporters even as he recovers from COVID-19.
• The number of deaths from the coronavirus around the world has surpassed 606,900, with the US the worst-affected country. There are more than 14.5 million confirmed cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

17:10 GMT - WHO 'very concerned' as COVID-19 spread speeds up in Africa

African countries need urgent help to build up their health systems as coronavirus continues to spread rapidly, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official warned.

Although the number of cases in several countries is still low, the rate of increase has been very high last week, WHO emergency operations chief Mike Ryan said.

"I am very concerned right now that we are beginning to see an acceleration of disease in Africa, and we need to take that very seriously," Ryan told a press briefing from Geneva. "Many of those countries exist in the midst of fragility and conflict."

Only four countries have reported more coronavirus cases than South Africa [Jerome Delay/AP]

With more than 360,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 5,000 related deaths, South Africa has been hit the hardest and accounts for 61 per cent of Africa's pandemic burden.

"South Africa may unfortunately be a precursor," he said. "It may be a warning for what will happen in the rest of Africa."

16:30 GMT - Bahamas introduces restrictions as cases rise

Bahamas will shut its borders to international flights and commercial vessels carrying passengers, the country’s prime minister said.

Flights from the UK, Canada and EU countries are exempted, Hubert Minnis said. The restrictions will come into effect on Wednesday.

Bahamas has reported 153 cases and 11 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

15:45 GMT - Indigenous people especially at risk from coronavirus, warns WHO

Indigenous communities comprising half a million people around the world are especially vulnerable to the new coronavirus pandemic due to often poor living conditions, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that as of July 6, there were more than 70,000 cases reported among indigenous peoples in the Americas, with over 2,000 deaths.

"We do not have to wait for a vaccine. We have to save lives now," he told a virtual briefing from the UN agency's headquarters in Geneva.

15:05 GMT - Denmark to allow sailors stranded at sea to come ashore

Denmark said it will allow merchant sailors stranded on the high seas since the outbreak of the coronavirus to come ashore and be reunited with their friends and families.

Since the outbreak of the virus, 200,000 seafarers have been stranded on merchant ships, some for more than a year, because travel restrictions have made it almost impossible to rotate crews.

"While many Danes have used the corona crisis to spend more time with the family, many Danish sailors have had to do without family and friends for much longer than usual," Business Minister Simon Kollerup said.

14:00 GMT - UK coronavirus vaccine shows promise

Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

British researchers first began testing the vaccine in April in about 1,000 people, half of whom got the experimental vaccine. Such early trials are usually designed only to evaluate safety, but in this case experts were also looking to see what kind of immune response was provoked.