South Korea has opened a high-tech new front in the battle against coronavirus, fortifying bus shelters with temperature-checking doors and ultraviolet disinfection lamps.
Ten advanced facilities have been installed in a northeastern district of Seoul, offering protection from monsoon rains, summer heat, and the novel coronavirus.
To enter, passengers must stand in front of an automated thermal-imaging camera, and the door will only slide open if their temperature is below 99.5°F.
A separate camera is installed lower down to test children.
Inside the glass-walled booths - which cost about $84,000 each - the air-conditioning systems have ultraviolet lamps installed to kill viruses at the same time as cooling the air.
More than 743,000 dead
The pandemic has killed at least 743,199 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 8pm on Wednesday.
At least 20.3 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
The United States has recorded the most deaths with 164,545, followed by Brazil with 103,026, Mexico with 53,929, Britain with 46,526 and India with 46,091 fatalities.
Britain's record recession
Britain's economy contracts by an unprecedented 20.4% in the period from April to June, far worse than any of its European neighbours.
"It is clear that the UK is in the largest recession on record," says the Office for National Statistics, which compiles the data.
"Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months many more will," says finance minister Rishi Sunak
New Zealand ponders vote delay
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern weighs delaying New Zealand's upcoming election as experts investigate whether the virus could have re-entered the country through freight shipments.
Parliament was due to be dissolved to allow the election to take place, but Ardern is holding off the move until Monday to monitor how the crisis evolves.
China reopens to Europeans
Beijing eases entry restrictions for nationals from 36 European countries, months after almost all foreign nationals were forbidden from entering the country.
Italy regions clamp down
Italian regions including Puglia and Campania begin to order new periods of quarantines for people returning from higher-risk European countries including Spain and Greece in a bid to stem new outbreaks.
Brussels masks-up
The wearing of face masks in public is compulsory in the Brussels region, regional authorities announce. Face masks are already required in most closed public spaces for people aged 12 and over but the measure now extends to the 19 municipalities of the Brussels region.
Paris marathon off
This year's Paris marathon has been cancelled because it is impossible to hold it during the pandemic, organizers say, having previously moved the race from the original date of April 5 to November 15. It joins a long list of elite marathons worldwide to be cancelled this year.
