EU recommends travel restrictions on US tourists; new variant ‘found in South Africa’ – as it happened

Six countries removed from EU white list' of countries with restriction-free travel; South African scientists trying to establish potency of new variant'

• Philippines has 22,366 new cases
• Europe has registered around 1.3 million Covid deaths to date
• New Zealand's largest city has curbs extended by two weeks
• Global trade recovery starting to wane as Asian cases flare
• US states have sharp rise in fatalities
• Sydney nurses increase sedation of patients to ease workload
• See all our coronavirus coverage

7.01pm BST

That's all from me, Alex Mistlin, today. Hope it's been a good one wherever you are. Bye!

6.56pm BST

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said no deaths had been reported in young adults after a rare heart inflammation known as myocarditis, reports Reuters.

Myocarditis is a known side-effect of Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, although studies show Covid poses a higher risk of the condition than vaccines for the disease.