Around 9,000 runners -- some wearing face masks -- took part in the Shanghai International Marathon Sunday, Chinese media said, a rare mass event in a year when coronavirus laid waste to most such sport.

Parts of Europe will reopen stores on Saturday in time for the holiday season after progress in containing the coronavirus, but Los Angeles will halt nearly all gatherings with the pandemic surging across the United States.

Germany, once a beacon of hope in Europe's coronavirus nightmare, logged its one millionth case on Friday, as questions emerged over just how much protection is offered by one of the leading vaccine candidates.

One of the developers of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine announced Friday that India-based drugmaker Hetero will produce over 100 million doses of the jab.

"Hetero, one of India's leading generic pharmaceutical companies, have agreed to produce in India over 100 million doses per year of the world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection -– Sputnik V," the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement, adding that production was expected to start in early 2021.

Germany on Friday saw its total number of coronavirus infections pass one million, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said.

The EU's disease control agency and the WHO on Thursday called for better HIV testing to spot cases early following rising undiagnosed cases especially in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia.

The United States on Wednesday registered more than 2,400 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally -- the highest daily toll in six months as the Thanksgiving holiday began.

At 8:30pm (0030 GMT Thursday), the country had recorded a total of 262,080 Covid deaths, up by 2,439 in 24 hours. It also registered nearly 200,000 new cases.

Less than a year after an unknown coronavirus that has claimed 1.4 million lives began spreading across the globe, a number of highly promising Covid-19 vaccines are on the cusp of release.

South Korea reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases since March on Thursday, with a surge of new infections sparking fears of a major third wave.

European countries should not ease coronavirus restrictions too quickly, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned on Wednesday, stressing the risk of a post-Christmas third wave.