These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

Spain's coronavirus death toll surges past the 70,000 mark, health ministry figures show. However, the number of daily infections continues its downward trend as the country appears to turn the corner of the third wave of infections.

US President Joe Biden warns that Covid-19 measures must stay in place if the pandemic is to be beaten, after Texas and Mississippi defied the federal government and dropped their mask-wearing mandate.

Greece extends its coronavirus lockdown to March 16 and calls on additional private health resources as it posts its highest rate of daily infections this year.

Brazil registers 1,910 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, its second straight daily record, adding to its quarter of a million toll that is second-highest in the world after the United States.

Pharma giant Merck is to produce Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine to boost supplies in the US in an unprecedented cooperation between rivals.

Millions of shots from the free Covax scheme arrive in Nigeria, Angola and DR Congo following deliveries to Ghana and Ivory Coast last week, as African countries ramp up jab campaigns.

An explosion shatters windows at a Dutch test centre but causes no injuries, weeks after another Covid test site was burned down during riots against a curfew.

Indian pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech says its domestically developed vaccine, criticised for being rolled out before final trials, was found in interim late-stage data to have almost 81 percent efficacy in preventing Covid-19 infection.

Police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of fake doses of Covid-19 jabs, global police organisation Interpol says, warning this represents only the "tip of the iceberg" in vaccine-related crime.

Brazilian football great Pele, 80, gets a jab, posting the moment on Instagram and urging people not to let down their guard against the virus.

US experts are halting clinical trials of convalescent blood plasma in patients with mild to moderate virus symptoms after preliminary results showed no benefits.

Australia extends its year-long border closure by at least three months to mid-June, continuing the country's self-imposed isolation.

The 2021 women's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand is set to be postponed until next year because of the pandemic.

The virus has killed at least 2,549,910 people since it emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

The US is the worst-affected country with 516,616 deaths, followed by Brazil (259,271), Mexico (187,187), India (157,346) and Britain (123,296).

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JOHNSON & JOHNSON