COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 3 November

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 46.8 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 1.2 million.

Australia has reported one locally acquired case of COVID-19. Meanwhile, New Zealand has registered its first community transmissions in more than two weeks, after two workers at a quarantine facility tested positive.

India has recorded 38,310 new COVID-19 infections - the ninth straight day that numbers have been under 50,000.

Britain is set to launch a mass-testing pilot scheme in Liverpool. Everyone in the city will be offered a test, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.

Portugal's President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said yesterday he was considering introducing a state of emergency to fight the spread of the virus.

The number of new COVID-19 cases hit a record high in the United States last week, after rising 18% to more than 575,000, according to a Reuters analysis.

Spain has seen a record one-day increase in new coronavirus cases, after they rose by 55,019.

2. Hope for 'cellular immunity'

A small UK study has found that 'cellular immunity' to COVID-19 is present in people who had mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 after six months.

The study, which is yet to be peer reviewed, looked at 100 non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Britain. It showed that while some patients' antibody levels fell, their T-cell response remained strong.

“While our findings cause us to be cautiously optimistic about the strength and length of immunity generated after SARS-CoV-2 infection, this is just one piece of the puzzle,” said Paul Moss, a professor of haematology at Britain’s Birmingham University, who co-led the study.

“There is still a lot for us learn before we have a full understanding of how immunity to COVID-19 works.”

3. Invest in the basics: WHO

World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged countries to once again invest in the basics of public health systems. His call came as countries, particularly in Europe, are putting in place restrictions to ease the pressure on their systems.

"We need countries to again invest in the basics so that measures can be lifted safely and governments can hopefully avoid having to take these measures again," he told a media briefing yesterday.

He also stressed that collective action is vital.

"On a macro level, this also reflects why a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to sustainable global preparedness is so important," he said. "Health systems and preparedness are not only an investment in the future, they are the foundation of our response today."

"Public health is more than medicine and science, and it is bigger than any individual," he added.