FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Updates with fresh developments)

July 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to issue new guidelines for reopening schools, Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump criticized the agency's recommendations as too expensive and impractical.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

* Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and a summary of developments.

EUROPE

* The European Commission has struck deals with drugmakers Roche and Merck KGaA to secure supplies of experimental treatments for COVID-19, a Commission source told Reuters.

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel laid out a vision of greater unity and democracy to ensure the European Union emerges stronger from the coronavirus crisis.

* Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said it is essential the European Union stands strong in its fight against the pandemic and its impact on its economy.

* Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called on demonstrators to stop attending anti-government protests in order to halt the further spread of infections.

* Residents of Moscow will be permitted to visit the theatre again from Aug. 1 for the first time in more than four months, even as cases in Russia edged past the 700,000 mark.

AMERICAS

* New Jersey adopted one of the toughest coronavirus face mask orders in the country, while New York City unveiled a plan to reopen schools that would have students return to classrooms for two or three days a week.

* Canada handled the coronavirus outbreak better than many of its allies, including the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, in a rare public comment on the faltering U.S. effort.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian nations are struggling with a surge in COVID-19 cases, which is now testing their healthcare systems to the breaking point after they relaxed tough lockdown restrictions in May.

* Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, went back into lockdown at midnight on Wednesday, forcing five million Australians to stay home for all but essential business for the next six weeks.

* Thailand expects to delay plans for so-called travel bubbles given a resurgence in infections in countries that had managed to contain the initial outbreak, a senior official told Reuters.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* In Africa, lack of coronavirus data raises fears of a "silent epidemic".

* Iran has recorded its highest number of deaths from COVID-19 within a 24-hour period, Health Ministry figures showed.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Smiths Group will help produce a blood-based COVID-19 antibody test approved by Britain's healthcare regulator.

* As the World Health Organization acknowledged "evidence emerging" of the airborne spread of the coronavirus, a U.N. report warned that a rush by countries to buy personal protective equipment has created an opportunity for criminal groups, which are peddling sub-standard equipment and are likely to move on to medicines soon.

* Gilead Sciences Inc said it has started an early-stage study of its antiviral COVID-19 treatment remdesivir that can be inhaled, for use outside of hospitals.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Global stocks wavered on Wednesday, pressured by fears that a surge in infections would slow the U.S. economy, while safe-haven demand lifted gold prices.

* British finance minister Rishi Sunak has promised an additional 30 billion pounds to head off an unemployment crisis.

* Canada's budget deficit is now forecast to hit C$343.2 billion, the largest shortfall since the Second World War, amid record emergency aid spending in response to the pandemic, Canada's finance department said.

(Compiled by Aditya Soni, Anna Rzhevkina and Linda Pasquini; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Shounak Dasgupta)