Students wait for their turn to receive their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Sydney on Aug 9, 2021. (DEAN LEWINS / POOL / AFP)
HANOI / MANILA / SINGAPORE / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / WELLINGTON / CANBERRA / NEW DELHI – Australian researchers have found that the data shows that an estimated 1,800 to 1,900 young Australians lost at least one parent during the pandemic.
In a study published on Thursday, researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) found fertility rates, poverty, vaccine coverage and the incidence of risk factors such as heart disease and diabetes in certain age groups all contributed to a higher risk of children losing at least one parent during the pandemic.
"We think of COVID-19 as a disease that largely affects older people, but we have forgotten about the young people and children that are left behind," Callum Lowe, a researcher at ANU, said in a media release.
"These are children that may have lost one or, sometimes tragically, both parents. It highlights that COVID-19 isn't just having an impact now but is having a huge effect on the next generation."
Using data published in 2021, Lowe and his team estimated Australia's COVID-19 orphan rate at 0.13, which means for every 100 coronavirus deaths in Australia about 13 young people have lost one or both parents.
Lowe said while there are countries where the orphan rate is much higher than in Australia, the data shows that an estimated 1,800 to 1,900 young Australians lost at least one parent during the pandemic.
India
India's daily COVID-19 caseload increased to 7,946, official data showed on Thursday.
According to federal health ministry data released on Thursday morning, these new cases were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,436,339 in the country.
The caseload marked an increase from the daily tally of 7,231 cases reported one day earlier.
With the fresh cases, India's active caseload currently stands at 62,748.
The country also logged 37 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 527,911 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
People walk with their luggage towards Malaysia, as seen from Sungai Kolok district in southern Thailand's Narathiwat province on June 1, 2022, after Malaysia and Thailand re-opened their land borders following the loosening of restrictions related to the coronavirus. (MADAREE TOHLALA / AFP)
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 2,340 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,782,624, according to the health ministry.
There are two new imported cases, with 2,338 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Another six deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 36,216.
New Zealand
New Zealand recorded 2,066 new community cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths from the pandemic, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide in early July.
With the fresh cases, New Zealand has reported 1,726,820 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,893 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.
A health worker (right) walks past people queueing up for coronavirus swab tests outside a gymnasium in Manila on Jan 7, 2022. (STR / AFP)
Philippines
The Philippines reported 1,558 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,880,229.
The Department of Health said the number of active cases fell to 24,181, while 41 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 61,814.
Metro Manila, the capital region with over 13 million people, tallied 580 new cases.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that coronavirus infections in the Visayas region in central Philippines have plateaued while the rest of the country "shows a slow downward trend."
However, she added that COVID-19 cases "continue to show a slow uptick in the Mindanao region" in southern Philippines.
A notice warning people not to gather in groups larger than five persons as part of restrictions to hald the spread of the coronavirus is displayed at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Jan 4, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore reported 2,154 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 1,839,244.
Of the new cases, 247 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 1,907 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 223 were local transmissions and 24 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 1,751 local transmissions and 156 imported cases.
No deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Wednesday, making the total death toll stay unchanged at 1,592, the ministry said.
People wearing face masks cross a road in the rain near a subway station in Seoul, South Korea on July 13, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)
South Korea
South Korea reported 81,573 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 23,327,897, the health authorities said Thursday.
The daily caseload was down from 103,961 in the prior day and lower than 113,349 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 89,997.
Among the new cases, 300 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 59,092.
A total of 112 more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 26,876. The total fatality rate was 0.12 percent.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 2,727 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, down by 514 from Tuesday, according to its ministry of health.
All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the health ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,411,679. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Wednesday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,117.