Australia’s coronavirus hot spot state of Victoria extended a hard lockdown in its capital Melbourne until Sept. 28, as the infection rate has declined more slowly than hoped.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

ASIA-PACIFIC

* India added more than 90,000 coronavirus cases on Sunday, a global daily record, according to health ministry data. That brought the country’s total cases to 4.1 million, while the number of deaths rose by 1,065 to 70,626.

* South Korea reported the smallest rise in infections in three weeks on Sunday, remaining under 200 for a fourth consecutive day as tighter restrictions cap a second wave of the virus.

EUROPE

* Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is in a stable condition two days after being hospitalised with the coronavirus, his doctor said on Saturday.

* Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has dampened hopes that spectators would be allowed to attend football matches from the start of the new season, saying it would be inappropriate at the present time.

* Brussels honoured health workers battling the pandemic on Saturday by dressing up the Belgian capital’s famed bronze statue of the Manneken Pis as a doctor in a white gown and wearing a protective face mask.

AMERICAS

* Mexico has recorded 122,765 deaths more than would be expected during the pandemic up to August, the health ministry said in a report on excess mortality rates, suggesting the country’s true coronavirus toll could be much higher. Mexico has recorded 67,326 confirmed coronavirus deaths, the world’s fourth highest death toll.

* Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she would not take President Donald Trump’s word alone on any potential coronavirus vaccine.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Schools in Iran re-opened to 15 million students on Saturday after a seven-month closure despite concerns over increased spread of the coronavirus in the country.

* Iranian President Hassan Rouhani castigated Iran’s friends on Saturday for not standing up to the United States and ignoring U.S. sanctions during the pandemic.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Sinovac Biotech Ltd said they have each found two more countries to run late-stage clinical tests of their coronavirus vaccine candidates, as China steps up its efforts in the global race.

* Sanofi’s chief in France, Olivier Bogillot, said its future COVID-19 vaccine was likely to be priced below 10 euros per shot.