KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 397 million people, leaving more than 5.7 million dead across 223 countries and territories globally.

The majority of those infected have recovered and many countries have rolled out vaccine campaigns as economies start to recover from the pandemic.

— Jamaica on Sunday reported 229 new cases of COVID-19 and four virus-related deaths, pushing the total number of cases recorded on the island since the start of the pandemic to 126,222 and the death toll to 2,698.

— South Korea will no longer use GPS monitoring to enforce quarantines and will also end daily checkup calls to low-risk coronavirus patients as a fast-developing omicron surge overwhelms health and government workers. The speed of transmissions has made it impossible to maintain a tight and proactive medical response, Jeong Eun-kyeong, the country’s top infectious disease expert, said Monday.

— Australia will open its borders to all vaccinated tourists and business travellers from February 21 in a further relaxation of pandemic restrictions. Australia imposed some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions on its citizens and permanent residents in March 2020 to prevent them from bringing COVID-19 home.

— The World Health Organization and the Commonwealth of Nations issued a joint plea Monday for vulnerable small states to get better access to COVID jabs to help revive their economies.

— The Haitian government has cancelled Carnival this year due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has killed 804 people and infected 29, 715 others over two years.