A health worker (left) collects a nasal swab sample from a vendor at a beach, as mandated by the civic authorities, for a COVID-19 coronavirus rapid antigen test (RAT) in Mumbai, India, on March 27, 2021. (SUJIT JAISWAL / AFP)
COX’S BAZAR / SYDNEY / TASHKENT / BEIRUT / ANKARA / BAGHDAD / KUWAIT CITY / SINGAPORE / DHAKA / DOHA / KABUL / HANOI / JAKARTA / MANILA / NEW DELHI / MUMBAI / WELLINGTON / ULAN BATOR / SEOUL / DUBAI / BANGKOK / PHNOM PENH – India recorded 62,714 cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday, the highest single-day tally since mid-October last year.
With 312 deaths, single-day mortality figures were also at their highest since Christmas, according to ministry data.
In total, the country has recorded 11,971,624 confirmed infections and 161,552 fatalities.
So far, over 60 million people have been vaccinated across the country.
We are seeing a higher COVID positive rate in high-rise residential buildings than in slums … to stop the spread only essential services will be allowed.
Kishor Pednekar,
Mayor of Mumbai, India
Authorities in India’s western state of Maharashtra imposed night curfews on Sunday to tackle a record surge in COVID-19 cases with the financial capital Mumbai reporting 6,123 new cases, the highest single-day spike since March last year.
“We are seeing a higher COVID positive rate in high-rise residential buildings than in slums…to stop the spread only essential services will be allowed,” said Kishor Pednekar, the mayor of Mumbai adding that hotels, pubs and shopping malls must observe the night curfew rules.
Several government hospitals reported they were running out of critical-care beds in Mumbai city.
ALSO READ: New double mutant COVID-19 variant found in India
Elsewhere, the Delhi government has once again imposed strict restrictions on gatherings of people for weddings, limiting to no more than 200 guests at weddings in open-air venues, and no more than 100 in closed banquet halls.
In another development, India gave 1.2 million free doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh on Saturday, its foreign minister said.
Separately on Saturday, UNICEF said that COVAX expects that the Serum Institute of India (SII) will resume full deliveries of the AstraZeneca shot to it in May.
A spokeswoman said that COVAX was in talks with New Delhi to secure “some supply” in April too. COVAX was expecting a total of 90 million doses from SII in March and April, of which it has received about 28 million.
Afghanistan
Four new COVID-19 cases have been registered in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally to 56,294, the Public Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
According to the statement, one more patient died over that period, pushing the toll to 2,470.
Australia
Australia’s Queensland state reported one new coronavirus case on Sunday linked to the highly contagious B117 UK mutant strain, but officials said a wider lockdown was not yet needed yet.
The newly diagnosed man is a close contact of the first case in an emerging cluster, a landscaper who tested positive on Thursday, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said at a news conference. A third person tested positive on Saturday.
Authorities urged residents to maintain social distancing and get tested, saying it was not the time to relax because the infected people had circulated in the community. They also urged the federal government to halve international arrivals to the state as locally acquired coronavirus cases in its capital city of Brisbane continued to grow.
Still, Young said a wider Queensland lockdown was not needed at this stage.
No other Australian state or territory has reported new cases of community transmission in recent days.
Australia has reported more than 22,200 local COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths since March 2020.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Saturday recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths since December last year.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 39 deaths, the highest daily toll since Dec 15, pushing the overall toll to 8,869.
The DGHS also reported 3,674 new COVID-19 infections, taking the cumulative caseload to 591,806.
The total number of recoveries went up by 1,971 to 533,922, said the DGHS.
Cambodia
Cambodia on Sunday reported 86 new COVID-19 cases, all locally transmitted, and one more death, the country's Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Of the fresh infections, 25 were detected in the capital Phnom Penh.
According to the ministry, the Southeast Asian country has officially registered a total of 2,233 confirmed COVID-19 cases, along with 10 deaths and 1,166 recoveries.
Indonesia
Indonesia has received about 53.5 million vaccine doses from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, and more are expected arrived, President Joko Widodo said on Twitter, encouraging his people to get inoculated. The vaccines are safe and lawful for Muslims, he said.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Saturday that the COVAX vaccine delivery from AstraZeneca will be delayed for March and April as India halted shipments for domestic use. The Indonesian government is in talks to see if at least some of the more than 10 million delayed doses could still be delivered so that it can maintain its vaccination pace.
The country has administered 10.5 million shots so far, as nearly 500,000 people were inoculated on Saturday, compared with just tens of thousands a day in January.
Indonesia's COVID-19 tally rose by 4,461 within a day to 1,492,002, while the death toll went up by 198 to 40,364, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
According to the ministry, 4,243 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,327,121.
Iran
Iran reported 8,120 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, raising its tally of infections to 1,846,923.
The death toll went up by 85 to 62,308.
Iraq
The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 5,062 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the tally to 827,157.
Another 20 additional fatalities raised the death toll to 14,177, while the total recoveries increased by 4,368 to 741,115.
In a separate statement, the ministry attributed the recent increase in daily COVID-19 infections to the public's failure to comply with the health restrictive measures, including the full curfew, which has negatively affected low-income people.
People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk under cherry blossoms in Tokyo, capital of Japan, March 26, 2021. (EUGENE HOSHIKO / AP)
Japan
Japan is set to issue digital health certificates to citizens who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, joining China, the European Union and other countries that have adopted similar measures aimed at opening up overseas travel, the Nikkei reported on Saturday.
In line with international standards, the certificate can be managed on a mobile app, allowing the carrier to present the proof of vaccination when boarding a plane or checking in to a hotel, according to the report.
The app is also focused on foreigners staying in Japan and returning to their respective home countries, according to the report.
ALSO READ: Indonesia seeks travel bubble with South Korea, Qatar
Kuwait
The Kuwaiti health ministry reported on Saturday 1,198 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 227,178.
The ministry also reported nine more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,279, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,336 to 211,360.
READ MORE: Bhutan begins vaccination drive with AstraZeneca
Lebanon registered on Saturday 2,957 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 458,338, the health ministry reported.
Meanwhile, the death toll went up by 45 to 6,058.
Malaysia
Malaysia's health ministry on Saturday reported 1,199 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 340,642.
The ministry's Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that five of the new cases were imported and 1,194 were local transmissions.
Two more deaths were also reported, lifting the death toll to 1,251.
The number of recoveries rose by 1,257 to 325,182, representing 95.5 percent of all cases.
Of the remaining 14,209 active cases, 167 were in intensive care including 72 in need of assisted breathing.
Mongolia
Mongolia recorded 321 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, raising the nationwide count to 7,014, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Sunday.
Meanwhile, 104 more patients have recovered and were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total recoveries to 4,341, the center said.
The death toll remained unchanged at 10.
More than 276,000 people have been vaccinated so far, according to the health ministry.
New Zealand
New Zealand reported one new case of COVID-19 on Sunday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.
The fresh case involved a recent returnee who tested COVID-19 positive in managed isolation, the ministry said, adding that there were no new cases in the wider New Zealand community.
The total number of active cases stood at 75, while the overall caseload stood at 2,126.
Novavax trials
Trials of Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine have started in India, with the aim of launching it by September, according to Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer at local partner Serum Institute of India Pvt.
The vaccine has been tested against African and UK variants of the virus and has shown an overall efficacy of 89 percent, Poonawalla said on Twitter.
The news comes amid rising pressure on the government to inoculate millions of its citizens to protect them from a surge in infections. Arresting the so-called second wave will be crucial for the economy to recover from the world’s strictest lockdown last year.
Qatar
The Qatari health ministry on Saturday reported 614 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 177,135.
Meanwhile, another 382 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 162,555, while the toll increased by two to 284, according to a ministry statement.
So far, a total of 721,236 vaccine doses have been administered in the Gulf state.
Saudi Arabia
Daily coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia have risen above 500 for the first time since October and the health ministry on Saturday blamed the increase on gatherings and laxity in complying with preventive measures such as social distancing.
The Gulf state recorded 510 new infections on Friday and 502 on Saturday to take its total tally to 387,794 cases with 6,643 deaths. More than 200 of the cases were in the capital Riyadh.
The kingdom had seen daily infections fall to below 100 in January from a peak of more than 4,000 in June.
Singapore
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 23 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 60,288.
Of the new cases, 22 were imported and one was a community case.
Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries rose by 10 to 60,113. The death toll remained at 30.
South Korea
South Korea reported 482 new cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Saturday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 101,757.
Of the new cases, 135 were Seoul residents and 150 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.
Twenty cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 7,545.
One more death was confirmed, lifting the death toll to 1,722.
So far, a total of 793,858 people have been vaccinated in South Korea.
Thailand
Thailand on Sunday confirmed 77 new coronavirus cases and one more fatality, according to a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
Of Sunday's new cases, 58 were domestically transmitted while 19 others were imported, according to the CCSA report.
So far, Thailand has confirmed a total of 28,734 cases, 27,239 recoveries and 94 deaths.
The Philippines
Dozens of Catholics in the Philippines braved the threat of coronavirus on Sunday to attend a mass outside the Baclaran Church in Manila to celebrate Palm Sunday, marking the beginning of the Holy Week.
Religious gatherings will be banned from Monday until Easter to comply with stricter quarantine restrictions the Philippine government reimposed in the capital and nearby provinces to slow the sharp rise in COVID-19 infections.
In a live briefing on Saturday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the capital city of Manila and neighboring Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal will be placed under ECQ starting March 29 until April 4.
Under the seven-day ECQ, Roque said the government will again impose "stringent limitations on movement and transportation of people" in these areas.
An 11-hour curfew will be imposed from 6 pm to 5 am during that period. Authorized persons such as essential workers, public transport, and cargo vehicles are allowed during the curfew.
The Philippine Stock Exchange will stick to the shortened trading hours implemented in the early days of the pandemic, bourse President Ramon Monzon said on Sunday.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Sunday 9,475 new COVID-19 infections and 11 additional deaths, bringing the cumulative caseload to 721,892 and the death toll to 13,170.
Turkey
Turkey on Saturday reported 30,021 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide caseload to 3,179,115.
The death toll rose by 151 to 30,923 while the total recoveries climbed by 18,892 to 2,939,929, according to the health ministry.
More than 8,217,000 people have been vaccinated so far.
READ MORE: Vaccine nationalism keep world's poorest waiting for shots
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported Saturday 2,304 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total number of infections to 453,069.
The death toll rose by 11 to 1,477 while the total number of recoveries increased by 2,428 to 436,463.
A cargo containing COVID-19 vaccines is being loaded onto a truck at Tashkent International Airport in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on March 27, 2021. (ZAFAR KHALILOV / XINHUA)
Uzbekistan
The first batch of Chinese coronavirus vaccines arrived in Uzbekistan Saturday.
Uzbekistan started the phase-3 trial of the vaccine developed by a Chinese company since December last year. Early this month, Uzbekistan registered it for emergency use and marketing authorization.
Uzbek Minister of Health Abdukhakim Khadjibaev noted that this vaccine has been tested by more than 7,000 Uzbek citizens since December and no serious side effects have been reported.
Uzbekistan had planned to start mass vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine from April 1, but due to the three-day national spring holiday of Navruz, it was postponed to April 5.
The country is also expected to purchase 1 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded no new cases of COVID-19 infection on Saturday, leaving the tally unchanged at 2,586, according to the Ministry of Health.
As of 6 pm Saturday, Vietnam had reported 1,603 domestically transmitted cases, including 910 logged since the latest outbreak on Jan 28, according to official data.