COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 1 October

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 33.9 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at just over 1 million.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged $100 million to help developing countries access a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Czech government has announced a state of emergency from next Monday to tackle a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.

Iran's COVID-19 death toll has risen above 26,000, according to state media.

Retail sales in Germany rose much more than expected in August, while unemployment fell further in September, raising hopes for a stronger economic recovery in Europe's biggest economy.

The UAE has seen its highest daily total of COVID-19 infections since the start of the outbreak.

The prevalence of COVID-19 infections is much higher in England than at the end of August, but there are signs growth is slowing, according to an Imperial College study.

Brazil has registered over 1,000 new coronavirus deaths, bringing its total to 143,952. There have been more than 4.8 million confirmed cases in the country.

A new study has examined the impact of school reopenings on rising coronavirus cases, finding generally no clear link between the two.

“It’s been assumed that opening schools will drive infections, and that closing schools will reduce transmission, but the reality is much more complex,” said Randa Grob-Zakhary, Founder and Chief Executive at Insights for Education, the organization that conducted the analysis.

The Geneva-based educational foundation said lockdown closures would leave a "pandemic learning debt" of 300 billion missed school days, of which 84% would be lost by children in poorer countries.

Grob-Zakhary said: "The key now is to learn from those countries that are reopening effectively against a backdrop of rising infections."

Salesforce.com has said it has adapted some of its business software for healthcare organizations and governments to help them distribute future COVID-19 vaccines.

Work.com for Vaccines will help cities, states and healthcare groups track inventory, build online appointment portals and monitor patients after vaccination.

“All these vaccines have various levels of quality and efficacy. We all know that they’re not all the same,” Salesforce.com Chief Executive Marc Benioff told Reuters in an interview. “And so technology will be really critical in separating the wheat from the chaff in the vaccine.”