PARIS: Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

The number of global deaths from Covid-19 soared by a fifth worldwide in the last week to 9,050 per day, according to AFP’s database.

An accord between rich nations and developing countries on intellectual property waivers for Covid-19 vaccines could be just weeks away, the head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says.

Merck’s anti-Covid pill remains “active” against the Omicron variant, the US drugmaker says, citing results from six laboratory studies.

Iceland aims to lift all its Covid-19 curbs by mid-March, which would end a three-stage easing plan presented by the government.

The United States says it has begun shipping another 7.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh.

Art Basel postpones its Hong Kong edition to May 27-29 due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the city.

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,635,702 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Friday.

Read more: Booster vaccines approved for Australian 16-17 year olds amid battle against COVID-19 outbreaks

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 878,467, followed by Brazil with 625,085, India on 492,327 and Russia 329,443.

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