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More than 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic, a number of countries have decided it's time to open up and adopt a "living with COVID" model.

Some have enviable vaccination rates; others have decided that the costs of continued economic and social restrictions outweigh the benefits.

Here are five nations to watch closely for how their new strategies play out.

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Denmark: The country that declared precautions over

The Danish government lifted all remaining coronavirus restrictions in the country on September 10.

It said COVID-19 was no longer "an illness which is a critical threat to society."

Danish people can now enter nightclubs and restaurants without showing a COVID passport, use public transport without wearing a face covering and meet in large numbers without restrictions.

It marks a return to pre-pandemic life.

The key to Denmark's success lies partly in its vaccination rollout.

As of September 13, over 74 per cent of Denmark's population was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Our World in Data.

The transmission rate, or R-rate, currently stands at 0.7, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke tweeted Wednesday, meaning that the epidemic is continuing to decline.

If it's above 1.0, COVID-19 cases will increase in the near future. If it's below 1.0, cases will decrease in the near future.

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"The vaccines and all citizens in Denmark's great efforts over a long period of time are the basis for us to do so well," Mr Heunicke said.

Despite such optimism, Mr Heunicke sounded a note of caution last month as the government announced the planned end date for restrictions.

"Even though we are in a good place right now, we are not out of the epidemic. And the government will not hesitate to act quickly if the pandemic again threatens important functions in our society."

Singapore: Trying to live with Covid, but Delta isn't helping

Singapore's government announced in June that it was planning to move toward a living with COVID strategy.

The strategy's aim was to control outbreaks with vaccines and monitoring hospitalisations rather than restricting citizens' lives.

"The bad news is that COVID-19 may never go away. The good news is that it is possible to live normally with it in our midst," Singapore's top COVID-19 officials wrote in an op-ed at the time.

Authorities began to ease some restrictions in August, allowing fully vaccinated people to dine in restaurants and to gather in groups of five, up from two.

But a surge in cases caused by the highly infectious Delta variant has put that strategy under strain, leading officials to pause further reopening.

Officials warned last week that they might need to reimpose COVID-19 restrictions if the new outbreak was not contained.

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Singapore's COVID-19 taskforce said it would attempt to limit the outbreak through more aggressive contact tracing, "ring-fencing" cases and clusters, and more frequent mandatory testing for high-risk workers.

Despite such measures, Singapore reported its highest one-day COVID-19 case total in more than a year on Tuesday.

So far, the number of people falling seriously ill remains low thanks to vaccination, authorities said.

Singapore pursued an aggressive "zero-COVID strategy" before shifting its approach, and has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world, with 81 per cent of the population fully vaccinated.

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Thailand: Slow vaccine takeup but it's opening up anyway

Thailand plans to reopen Bangkok and other popular destinations to foreign visitors next month, officials said last week, as the southeast Asian nation tries to revive its crucial tourism industry despite rising infection numbers.

Under the expanded program, tourists who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and commit to a testing regime will be allowed to enter the capital, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, according to Reuters.

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The island of Phuket reopened to vaccinated foreign visitors on July 1 without quarantine requirements.

On July 15, the country launched a similar program on the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, dubbed "Samui Plus."

Although it kept infection numbers low in 2020 thanks to successful containment measures, Thailand has struggled to keep cases in check this year.

Vaccination rates are lagging behind those of some neighbours.

Just under 18 per cent of the Thai population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of September 13, according to Our World in Data, with a further 21 per cent partially vaccinated.

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South Africa: Easing restrictions, but Delta's still a threat

South Africa has started to ease several COVID-19 restrictions as infection rates decrease in the country.

Among other measures, the nationwide nighttime curfew has been shortened to 11 p.m. until 4 a.m., the size of gatherings allowed has increased to 250 people indoors and 500 outdoors, and restrictions on alcohol sales have been further reduced.

The easing of restrictions, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, are notable in a country that passed much of the pandemic with extremely strict social distancing rules.

These included banning all gatherings except for funerals, at times, and and where vaccination rates remain low.

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Mr Ramaphosa warned that a devastating third wave of infections driven by the more transmissible Delta variant was not over.

However, he added that the country now has enough vaccine doses to cover the entire adult population, with more than a quarter of adults receiving at least one dose.

He encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and comply with remaining restrictions to allow the country to get back to normal.

"The third wave is not yet over, and it is only through our actions individually and collectively that we will be able to reduce the number of new infections," he said.

Chile: High vaccination rates mean tourists can return

Chile has been internationally praised for its smooth and successful vaccination campaign.

According to the health ministry's latest reports, almost 87 per cent of eligible Chileans are fully vaccinated.

The country has already started distributing booster shots to those who are fully vaccinated.

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Health authorities on Thursday approved the use of the Chinese vaccine Sinovac for children aged six and over and inoculations started on Monday.

Despite the threat posed by the Delta variant, the government on Wednesday announced moves to reopen the country to international tourism from October 1, just in time for the southern hemisphere nation's summer season.

Foreign non-residents will be able to enter provided they meet certain requirements and isolate for five days on arrival.

"The fact that foreign tourists can come to Chile is an important step for the recovery of inbound tourism," said Under-Secretary for Tourism José Luis Uriarte.

"It's important to point out that this is the first step, and we will be able to keep moving forward as long as we maintain the right health conditions."

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With both international and most domestic travel still on hold, Virgin Australia is extending the status for members of its frequent flyer club again.

The airline said it will further extend Platinum, Gold and Silver Velocity memberships.

It will also start allowing members to use their rewards to book on international airline partners, which has been suspended since the borders closed in March, 2020.

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It said Velocity Platinum and Gold members who booked an eligible Virgin Australia flight by 28 March 2021 under Velocity's 2020 Status Rewards Program, will automatically get a further extension of their membership until 28 February 2023.

Velocity Platinum, Gold and Silver members with a review date between 30 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 will automatically receive an additional eight-month Status extension upon their review date, until at least 1 June 2022.

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"Many of our loyal members have earnt their highly sought-after Velocity Status memberships over many years and so we're guaranteeing that eligible members will hold onto their tier benefits with more flying opportunities on the horizon," Acting Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO, David Marr said.

"We've already given Velocity members more than 18 months of Status extensions during the course of the pandemic and our announcement today will give members even more certainty that they'll continue to enjoy the tier benefits they value when flying with Virgin Australia or our international partner airlines well into the future."

While the international border remains closed until at least December 18, Australian national airline Qantas says it wants to resume flights on that day, subject to government approval.

A home quarantine trial for seven days will start this month.

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A drawing newly attributed to Vincent van Gogh that has never been displayed publicly before is going on show at the Amsterdam museum that bears the Dutch master's name.

The "new" Van Gogh, "Study for 'Worn Out,'" from November 1882, is part of a Dutch private collection and was known to only a handful of people, including a few from the Van Gogh Museum.

The owner, who is remaining anonymous, asked the museum to determine if the unsigned drawing is by Van Gogh.

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From the style, to the materials used — a thick carpenter's pencil and coarse watercolour paper — it conforms to Van Gogh's Hague drawings, Senior Researcher Teio Meedendorp said on Thursday.

There are even traces of damage on the back linking it to the way Van Gogh used wads of starch to attach sheets of paper to drawing boards.

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"It's quite rare for a new work to be attributed to Van Gogh," the museum's director Emilie Gordenker said in a statement. "We're proud to be able to share this early drawing and its story with our visitors."

It comes from a time in the artist's career when he was working to improve his skills as a painter of people and portraits by drawing them. Over and over again.

The museum already owns the almost identical drawing, "Worn Out".

"It was quite clear that they are related," Mr Meedendorp said.

The study has been loaned to the museum and goes on show from Friday until January 2.

It shows an elderly, man sitting, hunched forwards, on a wooden chair, his balding head in his hands.

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Even the model's pants appear to conform to the English title — a patch is clearly visible on the right leg.

It is a far cry from the vibrant oil paintings of vases of sunflowers and French landscapes that eventually turned the tormented Van Gogh — after his death in 1890 — into one of the world's most famous artists, whose works have garnered astronomical prices at auction.

Instead, it illustrates how as a young artist in practicing his craft in The Hague in 1882, Van Gogh had to confront an uncomfortable truth.

"He discovered that he lacked the ability to paint people. So he was already drawing them but he liked to paint," Mr Meedendorp said.

"So in order to be able to paint people as well he went back to the drawing board."

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Van Gogh, who was famously reliant on his brother Theo's generosity throughout his life, gave the drawings an English title in a bid to build a bit of name recognition and possibly even land a job at an illustrated magazine.

"In his mind, he had an idea that he would reach out farther than Holland in the end as an artist," Mr Meedendorp said.

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The baby boom continues at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, with the park welcoming not one, but five, lion cubs.

The zoo confirmed the happy arrivals this week, noting it's the first time they've had lion cubs born on site in 18 years.

The five cubs – three females and two males – were born 12 August. They were born to experienced mum Maya and first-time dad Ato, who celebrated his fourth birthday the day the cubs arrived.

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A zoo spokesperson said the cubs are growing every day and are slowly getting used to their den.

While the park is closed to the public due to lockdown the public can catch a glimpse of the cubs on Taronga TV's cub cam.

The announcement comes just days after the zoo shared photos of three adorable meerkats born at Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales.

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