The world reported 518,000 new cases within the last 24 hours, with more than 4,700 deaths.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from COVID-19, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Omicron makes it more likely that people vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 will be infected or re-infected.

The European Council reached an agreement on a new regulation that will allow the activation of emergency medical countermeasures by the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) during public health emergencies in the EU.