A visitor talks to an worker at a COVID-19 testing service near the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, a location used for travelers quarantine, at London Heathrow Airport in London, UK, on Feb 15, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

LONDON / PARIS / SANTIAGO / BRASILIA / WASHINGTON / BUCHAREST / HAVANA / QUITO / STOCKHOLM / BRUSSELS / MOSCOW - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday everyone in England will be able to take a COVID-19 test twice a week in a new drive to track the pandemic as society reopens and the vaccine rollout continues at its rapid rate.

Johnson, who is expected to confirm plans to relaunch international travel and open sections of the economy later on Monday, said the new mass testing programme would break the chain of transmissions and spot cases without symptoms.

As much of Europe enters new lockdowns to tackle surging cases, Johnson has set out a staggered plan to ease restrictions in the coming months, a huge boost for one of the worst-hit countries during the pandemic.

“As we continue to make good progress on our vaccine programme and with our roadmap to cautiously easing restrictions underway, regular rapid testing is even more important to make sure those efforts are not wasted,” Johnson said in a statement.

Junior health minister Edward Argar said the tests would be sent to homes or businesses, or picked up from pharmacies or test centres. He said he was confident people would isolate.

Another 2,297 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,359,388, according to official figures released Sunday.

The country also reported another 10 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 126,836. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

COVAX

Coronavirus shots should be rolled out to over 100 countries in the next couple of weeks, from 84 at present, with a shortage of supplies the limiting factor, said one of the leaders of the World Health Organization’s vaccine initiative.

“If we had more doses, we could make these available,” Seth Berkley, chief executive officer of Gavi Alliance, a public-private partnership that works to provide vaccines for developing countries, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“What we’re talking about now is ultimately getting access to the large manufacturing facilities,” Berkley said from Geneva. Once US needs are met later this year, for example, those plants “really could be used to come online for the rest of the world.”

Countries like the US, the UK and Israel, and the developed world in general, have marched ahead with their vaccination programs since the first shots were approved in late 2020.

US

Rising US COVID-19 cases won’t amount to a full-blown “fourth wave,” former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Gottlieb said he expects daily vaccinations to increase to 5 million. Meanwhile, some 130 million people in the US who have been infected also have some level of immunity, he said.

“I think that there’s enough immunity in the population that you’re not going to see a true fourth wave of infection,” he said. “What we’re seeing is pockets of infection around the country, particularly in younger people who haven’t been vaccinated and also in school-age children.”

President Joe Biden called on Americans feeling the “longing and loneliness of distance” during the second consecutive pandemic Easter to get vaccinated in a holiday video posted to White House social media channels.

“We share the sentiments of Pope Francis who has said getting vaccinated is a moral obligation, one that can save your life and the lives of others,” Biden said. “By getting vaccinated and encouraging your congregations and your communities to get vaccinated, we can not only beat this virus but we can haste the day when we can celebrate the holidays together again.”

The US added almost 65,000 new COVID -19 cases on Saturday, matching the rolling seven-day average and keeping the country on pace for what could be the most weekly infections since the end of February.

READ MORE: COVID-19 deaths in Brazil surpasses 330,000

France

France reported 80,711 new coronavirus cases this weekend as the country enters a third nationwide lockdown. The number of ICU patients has risen by 87 since Friday to 5,341, according to French health authorities. There were 370 deaths in the last 48 hours, taking the total to 96,650.

Cases have been surging in France since December due to more contagious, deadlier variants, forcing President Emmanuel Macron to abandon a strategy of regional measures and opt for another lockdown.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in France rose by 470 in a single day to a total of 29,356, showed health authorities data released on Sunday.

Among them, 5,341 cases required intensive care, up by 68 compared with the day before.

ALSO READ: COVID-19: France sees biggest jump in ICU patients in months

Portugal

Portugal on Sunday extended restrictions on travel via land and sea to Spain that had been due to end this weekend until April 15 as it works to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The two countries imposed the restrictions on Jan. 28.

Portugal registered another 193 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest since Aug. 25, 2020, health authorities reported on Sunday.

The Portuguese Directorate-General for Health also reported four more deaths related to COVID-19.

A container carrying first shipment of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine doses, as part of the UN global Covax programme, arrives at the Noi Bai International Airport Cargo terminal in Hanoi on April 1, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Greece

Greece will provide more financial aid to businesses hit by coronavirus restrictions in April, the finance minister said on Monday, as shops reopened despite surging case numbers that have put health services under severe strain.

Last week the government announced the easing of some restrictions to relieve widespread lockdown fatigue, allowing small retail shops selling non-essential goods to reopen, under so-called click-away and click-in-shopping modes.

Under the rules, consumers will need to make appointments and comply with a three-hour limit for shopping and retailers cannot allow more than one customer per 25 square metres.

Greece said on Sunday it was extending restrictions on domestic flights until April 12 and on international flights until April 19 as the number of new COVID-19 infections continues to rise.

Under the restrictions, passengers flying to Greece must receive a negative PCR test 72 hours before arrival and undergo random testing for COVID-19.

All foreign travellers are quarantined for seven days. Israeli travellers who have been fully vaccinated at least two weeks before travel will not need to be quarantined following a bilateral agreement on tourism between the two countries.

Most flights from non-European Union member states are banned, with the exception of 10 countries including Britain. For domestic flights, only essential travel is permitted.

Chile

The Chilean Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 7,304 new cases of COVID-19 and 120 more deaths.

Minister of Health Enrique Paris stated that new cases have increased by 25 percent nationwide in the last 14 days, and that only five regions have decreased numbers of reported cases in that period.

Chile has reported 1,026,785 total cases of COVID-19, of which 44,261 are in the active stage, while the death toll has reached 23,644.

With the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the government has announced the strengthening of restrictive measures, affecting about 16 million people in the country.

Cuba

Cuba reported five deaths and 1,162 cases of COVID-19, the highest daily number of cases on record, the Ministry of Public Health said on Sunday.

With these figures, the total number of cases rose to 79,544 and the death toll rose to 436, according to the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology, Francisco Duran.

"These figures express the complexity of the epidemiological situation in the country, with a high risk not only of becoming ill, but of having complications and having sequelae or dying," said Duran.

Havana remains the epicenter of the pandemic in the country and authorities have put in place a series of preventive health measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Ecuador

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported 2,506 new cases and 10 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 335,681 and the death toll to 12,060.

The actual pandemic death toll may be closer to 17,000 as another 4,896 deaths are considered to be COVID-19 related, but not verified, according to the ministry.

The exponential rise in infections in the last 24 hours is concentrated in the provinces of Pichincha, where the capital city of Quito is located, and Guayas.

Colombia

Colombia registered 9,022 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking its nationwide tally to 2,446,219, the ministry of health and social protection said Sunday.

The country also reported 162 more deaths, raising the national death toll to 64,094, said the ministry.

Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Sunday new restrictive measures for several Colombian cities where the number of COVID-19 cases are on the rise and the occupancy of intensive care units (ICUs) is over 70 percent.

"The national government, headed by the Ministries of Health and the Interior ... has issued a series of recommendations to be implemented ... in order to reduce the risk of contagion," said Duque.

According to the president, the measures must be implemented by mayors and governors starting Monday and ending on April 19.

"We recommend that all families and people who traveled during the Easter holidays to places of high ICU occupancy or high levels of contagion, that is, ICU occupancy higher than 80 percent, practice voluntary preventive self-isolation for a minimum of seven days," he said.

Colombia registered 9,022 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking its nationwide tally to 2,446,219, the ministry of health and social protection said Sunday.

The country also reported 162 more deaths, raising the national death toll to 64,094, said the ministry.

Brazil

Brazil registered on Sunday 1,240 more deaths from COVID-19 and 31,359 new cases, with total fatalities reaching 331,433, the health ministry reported.

Brazil, registering a total of 12,984,956 infections, is currently one of the global epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the world's second-worst outbreak in terms of both deaths and infections, only after the United States.

Sao Paulo, the most populous state in the country, has also been hardest hit by the virus with 2,527,400 cases and 77,020 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 658,440 cases and 37,687 deaths.

The South American country has been experiencing a new wave of infections since January, which has overwhelmed the health systems of several states in recent weeks.

Argentina 

Argentina registered 9,955 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the national tally to 2,393,492, according to the country's ministry of health.

The ministry also reported 93 more deaths from the disease, taking the nationwide death toll to 56,199.

A total of 2,140,480 patients have recovered from the disease so far, while 196,813 cases remain active, it said.

Since the vaccination program began in December 2020, 684,366 people have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while another 3,567,150 have received the first jab.

Africa

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,261,645 as of Sunday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 113,598, while 3,806,287 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.

Morocco

Morocco's COVID-19 tally rose to 498,197 on Sunday as 365 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, the death toll rose to 8,850 with 8 new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 435 people are in intensive care units.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 484,921 after 128 new ones were added, the statement said.

Libya

The Libyan Minister of Health Ali Zanati on Sunday announced that a shipment of 101,250 dozes of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, provided by the United Arab Emirates, arrived in Libyan capital Tripoli.

Experts supervised the distribution of the vaccine to special medicine cooling stores across the country at -18 degrees celsius, Zanati told a press conference in Tripoli, confirming that a vaccination campaign will begin soon and that he will be the first to receive the vaccine.

Ethiopia 

Ethiopia registered 1,878 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 215,189 as of Sunday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said 27 new deaths from COVID-19 were reported across the country during the same period, bringing the national death toll to 2,963.

The East African country reported 742 more recoveries, taking the national count to 161,968.

According to the ministry, Ethiopia currently has some 50,256 active COVID-19 cases, of which 857 are said to be under severe health conditions.

Uganda 

Uganda on Monday reported 54 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the east African country to 41,016.

The 54 new infections were confirmed out of the 3,904 samples tested on Friday and Saturday for the novel coronavirus, the health ministry said in a statement.

A total of 40,452 patients have recovered and 335 deaths registered since the index case was reported in the country on March 22, last year, the statement said.