ere are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Health pass makes France Covid leader –

France’s controversial health pass helps turn the country from a vaccine laggard into a leader. Based on the share of citizens who have had at least one jab, France has surpassed Britain and Italy in recent days, data analysed by AFP show.

– Austria probes Covid leak –

Austria says it is investigating a leak of 24,000 names and addresses of people who tested positive for coronavirus this year in the province of Tyrol.

– Delta hits US jobs market –

The recovery in the United States labour market is battered as surging cases of the Delta variant slows hiring.

– Moderna jabs contain steel –

US drugmaker Moderna says tainted batches of its Covid-19 vaccine sent to Japan were contaminated with stainless steel particles, but it does not expect it poses “an undue risk to patient safety”.

– Spain tourism rebound –

Foreign tourist arrivals in Spain surge in July from a year earlier — but the numbers remain far below pre-pandemic levels from 2019.

– Pioneer Denmark abolishes pass –

Denmark, the first country to introduce a Covid-19 pass six months ago, abolishes the requirement in most public places, just days before it lifts all restrictions.

– …but not Scotland –

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon proposes introducing Covid-19 vaccine passports for nightclubs and high risk venues like music festivals, amid a sharp rise in cases of the virus.

– EU defends booster shots –

The EU official in charge of coordinating Europe’s Covid-19 vaccine supply, Thierry Breton, rejects criticism from the World Health Organization that buying booster shots for Europeans is unfair to poorer countries still waiting for jabs.

– Israel’s schools reopen –

Israel reopens its schools after the summer break but the coronavirus forces 250,000 out of 2.4 million students to stay home amid an infection surge fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

– Egypt to make Chinese jab –

Egypt says it plans to manufacture one billion doses a year of China’s Sinovac vaccine, claiming it would become the Middle East and Africa’s “biggest vaccine producer”.

– Portugal eases up for UK, Brazil –

Travellers from the United Kingdom and Brazil will no longer have to quarantine when visiting Portugal, the Portuguese government says.

– Greek health workers –

A deadline for Greek health workers to get vaccinated comes into force, with some 10,000 facing suspension, a union says,

– 4.5 million dead –

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,518,163 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.

The US is the worst-affected country with 640,108 deaths, followed by Brazil with 580,413, India with 439,020, Mexico 259,326 and Peru 198,295.

Based on the latest reports, the countries with the most new daily deaths were the US with 1,173, followed by Brazil with 839 and Mexico with 835.

bur-eab-jmy/pbr/har