Austria went into a nationwide lockdown early on Monday to combat soaring coronavirus infections, a step being closely watched by other European governments struggling with outbreaks that are straining healthcare systems.
Austria's measures are expected to last for a maximum of 20 days but will be reevaluated after 10.
It comes as a fresh wave of protests broke out in several European cities and in some French overseas territories on Sunday as protesters reacted, sometimes violently, to moves to reintroduce restrictions.
Police and protesters clashed in the Belgian capital Brussels and in several Dutch cities. In Brussels, violence broke out at a protest that police said was attended by 35,000 people. There were also fresh demonstrations in Austria.
But on the other side of the world, Australia and New Zealand are emerging from months of strict measures.
New Zealand will end a three-and-a-half-month lockdown in the country's largest city Auckland early next month as it adopts a new coronavirus control strategy, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.
Meanwhile Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from the start of December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, the latest step to restart international travel and support its economy.
Follow the latest updates below.
Eric Zemmour, the hard-right French political commentator and possible presidential candidate, said on Monday that he felt fears over the Covid-19 virus had been overblown.
But support has fallen for Mr Zemmour, according to a new poll that came amid reports of tensions in his campaign team.
The poll by the OpinionWay survey group measuring voter intentions for the first round of next year's election showed support for him down by a point compared with October, to 12 per cent.
The results mirrored trends seen in two other surveys published last week by the Odoxa and Elabe groups, which also indicated that support for the ultra-nationalist had slipped.
All three show him falling behind the veteran far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, whom Mr Zemmour briefly eclipsed in surveys during October after a media blitz.
Booster jabs are vital for ensuring the UK remains open as we head towards Christmas, Stephen Powis, national medical director for England has, told BBC Radio 4.
Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, the latest step to restart international travel and support its economy.
The rules were relaxed in recent weeks to allow foreign family members of citizens to enter, and Mr Morrison said this will be scaled up from Dec. 1 to allow vaccinated students, business visa holders and refugees to arrive.
The relaxation of the border rules is expected to ease labour shortages, which threaten to stymie an economic rebound.
Vaccine passports that exempt vaccinated people from regular Covid-19 testing would allow many infections to be missed, Israeli data suggest.
Researchers analysed infection rates in citizens returning to Israel through Ben-Gurion airport, for whom PCR tests upon arrival are required regardless of vaccination status.
In August 2021, the rate of positive tests among vaccinated travellers was more than double the rate among the unvaccinated, said Retsef Levi of the MIT Sloan School of Management, coauthor of a report posted on the SSRN server ahead of peer review.
The data suggested that limiting frequent Covid-19 testing to unvaccinated people would "pose potential risks by reinforcing the misrepresentation that vaccinated individuals are protected from infections."
Good morning and welcome to The Telegraph's Covid liveblog. Here's a snapshot of the latest news from around the world:
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.