Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Police probe Johnson parties –

London's police chief says Scotland Yard is investigating several parties at Downing Street and in government departments during lockdown, piling further pressure on embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

– Let them eat cake –

The investigation comes as the Johnson is further hit by reports that 30 people celebrated his birthday at Number 10 in a rule-breaking party with a cake thrown by his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds.

– Minister quits over fraud –

More bad news for Johnson as one of his ministers resigns in protest over the handling of fraudulent loans granted as part of a pandemic business support scheme, with the government estimated to have lost 4.9 billion pounds (5.8 billion euros).

– 'Insurmountable' education losses –

Pandemic school closures have caused "nearly insurmountable" losses in education around the world, says UNICEF, with more than 616 million children still being affected by full or partial class closures.

– Tonga aid setback –

A virus outbreak on an Australian warship steaming towards Tonga threatens to disrupt aid effort for the islands after a huge volcanic eruption caused a deadly tsunami there. Tonga is one of the few Covid-free countries in the world.

– Covid's last frontiers –

Lockdowns in Samoa and the Solomon Islands are extended as outbreaks worsen in the remote Pacific island nations that have previously held the pandemic at bay.

– Gold medal winner dies –

Hungary's Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Szilveszter Csollany dies from the virus.

Csollany, 51, shared "anti-vax" posts on Facebook but got his first jab just before he fell ill, too late for enough antibodies to fight it, according to reports.

– WHO chief to get second term –

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is set to get a second term as head of the World Health Organization after shepherding the institution through the first two years of the pandemic.

– Japan's 'nightmare' ban –

Campaigners say more than 370,000 people have been left in limbo by Japan's "nightmare" border rules against the virus, which bar almost all new arrivals and are the strictest in the G7.

– 5.6 million dead –

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,602,767 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Tuesday.

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 868,512, followed by Brazil with 623,356, India on 490,462 and Russia 327,448.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

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