People in hazardous material overalls are seen outside of a public housing tower in Melbourne, Australia. Reuters

More than 16.76 million people across the globe have been infected by the new coronavirus and 659,413 have died, according to a Reuters tally published on Wednesday.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

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Global airlines cut their coronavirus recovery forecast, saying it would take until 2024 — a year longer than previously expected — for passenger traffic to return to pre-crisis levels.

French health authorities reported 725 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, below the daily average of 924 over the past week but unlikely to alleviate fears of a second wave.

This photo shows a Green-Wood Cemetery in New York City. AFP

A half-dozen US states in the South and West reported one-day records for coronavirus deaths on Tuesday and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark as California health officials said Latinos made up more than half its cases.

Republicans in the White House and the US. Congress were in disarray over their own plan for providing $1 trillion in new coronavirus aid on Tuesday, as negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise bill with Democrats also sputtered.

CES, the biggest global tech and gadget show, held every January in Las Vegas, will be held only online in 2021 due to concerns over the pandemic.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has warned the city is on the brink of a large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible as strict new measures to curb the disease's spread take effect.

Inhabitants applaud the French nation in Saint-Mande, a Paris’ suburb in France. File/AFP

Australia has sent defence and emergency medical teams, usually deployed to disaster zones, to aged care homes in the city of Melbourne to help contain the country's worst outbreak of the coronavirus.

Vietnam's government warned health authorities in the capital Hanoi to prepare for a potential outbreak of COVID-19 after media reported the first suspected coronavirus case in months in the city of about eight million people.

North Korea introduced tougher prevention measures, state media reported, after it locked down the town Kaesong, on the border with the South, to tackle what could be its first publicly confirmed infection.