July 14 (Reuters) - Here' s what you need to know about the
coronavirus right now:
    
    Masks to remain mandatory on London transport
    Masks will remain mandatory on London' s public transport
network after July 19, the city' s mayor said on Wednesday, as
Prime Minister Boris Johnson' s government plans to lift most
COVID-19 restrictions from that date in England despite rising
cases.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2OP564
    The public will be expected, rather than compelled by law,
to wear masks in indoor enclosed spaces across the country from
next week, as rules decided upon by the Conservative
administration are eased.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2OO0NP
    
    Sydney extends lockdown as outbreak nears 900 infections
    Australian authorities extended a lockdown in Sydney on
Wednesday by at least 14 days, after three weeks of initial
restrictions failed to stamp out the biggest outbreak of
COVID-19 this year in the country' s largest city. 
    New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said
restrictions would need to remain in place until at least July
30 after she reported 97 new locally transmitted cases, a slight
increase from a day earlier.
    The shutdown has now been extended on two occasions and
total infections since the first was initially detected in the
city' s eastern suburbs in mid-June now stand at just under 900.
Two deaths have been reported, the first for the country this
year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2OQ00S
    
    Singapore says cruise ship returns after suspected case
    Singapore' s tourism board said on Wednesday a cruise ship
operated by Genting Cruise Lines on a so-called cruise to
nowhere had returned to the city-state after a 40-year-old
passenger was suspected to have contracted COVID-19. " The
passenger was identified as a close contact of a confirmed case
on land, and was immediately isolated as part of onboard health
protocols,"  the tourism board said in a statement.
    It said the passenger tested positive to a Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR) test onboard and had been conveyed to hospital
for further confirmatory testing.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2OQ065
    
    Living with COVID-19: Israel changes strategy
    Under what Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls a policy of
" soft suppression" , the government wants Israelis to learn to
live with the virus - involving the fewest possible restrictions
and avoiding a fourth national lockdown that could do further
harm to the economy.
    As most Israelis in risk groups have now been vaccinated
against COVID-19, Bennett is counting on fewer people than
before falling seriously ill when infections rise. 
    The main indicator guiding the move is the number of severe
COVID-19 cases in hospital, currently around 45. Implementation
will entail monitoring infections, encouraging vaccinations,
rapid testing and information campaigns about face masks.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2OM017
    
    S.Korea tightens COVID-19 curbs across most of country
    South Korea on Wednesday tightened social distancing curbs
across most of the country to try to combat its worst-ever
outbreak of coronavirus after new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday
soared past previous daily peaks to 1,615.
    Amid growing concerns over the more contagious Delta variant
and a stagnating vaccine rollout, the latest daily tally easily
surpassed the previous record - last Friday' s 1,378. 
    Cluster infections have spread rapidly around the capital
Seoul and neighbouring areas fuelled by the Delta variant, the
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2OQ018
    

 (Compiled by Karishma Singh  Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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