The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 1,030 newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 46,645.

This is the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that South Korea broke the 1,000 mark in new cases and follows Saturday's record of 950 new cases.

Yonhap reports that President Moon Jae-in held an emergency meeting and called the current situation "the worst crisis" since the outbreak began and a "desperate time" when the government should make an all-out effort stem further infections.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Italy's Civil Protection Agency reported 484 new deaths on Sunday, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 64,520, surpassing the United Kingdom which stands at 64,267, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

There were 17,938 new COVID-19 cases reported in Italy, representing an 11.7% positivity rate and brings the total number of diagnosed cases to 1,843,712.

There have been a total of 372,965 deaths and 14,959,949 cases in the EU and the U.K., according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

The gulf nation joins a list of countries -- including the U.K., U.S., Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Mexico -- that have authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

With Sunday's vaccine shipment now in transit, Pfizer has began preparations to ship out an additional 400 boxes of the vaccine on Monday.

There are 975 vials per box -- each vial provides five doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the company said.

There are 195 vials per tray and 60,000 vials per freezer.

South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has called on final-year students who attended end-of-year parties to immediately self-quarantine for 10 days to prevent spreading the novel coronavirus.

Mkhize made the plea to students and parents on Sunday, after numerous people who recently attended "Rage" parties in Ballito and Jeffrey's Bay tested positive for COVID-19. The events are hosted every year in South Africa as thousands of students celebrate the end of matriculation.

"We confirm that we have now identified a number of COVID-19 confirmed cases arising from these super-spreader events," Mkhize said in a statement. "This therefore means that if you attended any of these Rage events, you are now regarded as a contact."

In addition to quarantining, Mkhize also urged attendees to get tested as soon as possible.

South Africa has the highest tally of COVID-19 infections in all of Africa, with more than 814,000 confirmed cases including over 22,000 deaths.