Passengers wait in line before moving onto their temporary housing for quarantine as they come out of an arrival gate for international flights at the Narita International Airport in Narita, east of Tokyo, on Dec 2, 2021. (HIRO KOMAE / FILE / AP)
SINGAPORE / TOKYO / SEOUL / MANILA / HANOI / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD – Japan will waive pre-departure COVID-19 tests for vaccinated travelers to the country, but daily caps on entrants will remain in place, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday.
The requirement for tests will be lifted from Sept 7, Kishida said. No decision has been made yet on a reported plan to raise a daily cap on inbound travelers from 20,000 to 50,000, he added.
"We will continue relaxing these measures gradually," said Kishida, who addressed reporters online as he is recuperating from COVID-19 at his official residence.
Japan saw a record number of daily COVID-19 deaths at 343 on Tuesday amid the fast-spreading seventh wave of coronavirus infections.
Tuesday's death toll exceeded the previous high of 327 logged on Feb 22. Osaka Prefecture reported 42 coronavirus-related deaths, while there were 25 new deaths confirmed in Tokyo.
The daily tally of new COVID-19 cases also came to 208,551 after dipping under 200,000 the previous day, as the country feared a strain on the medical system fueled by a resurgence of infections.
India
India's daily COVID-19 caseload again breached the 10,000-mark, two days after remaining below it, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the federal health ministry data released on Wednesday morning, 10,649 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,368,195 in the country.
With the fresh cases, India's active caseload currently stands at 96,442.
The country also logged 36 COVID-19 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 527,452 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 2,722 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 4,762,552, according to the health ministry.
There are five new imported cases, with 2,717 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Another 11 deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 36,166.
Pakistan
Pakistan reported 278 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the country's ministry of health said on Wednesday.
The overall tally of the infected people climbed to 1,567,147 across the country after adding the fresh cases, according to the data released by the ministry.
A total of 30,559 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, including two deaths over the last 24 hours, according to the ministry's statistics.
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 1,735 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the lowest since July 13, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,860,537.
The Department of Health said the number of active cases fell to 31,542, while 40 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 61,426.
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 will do away with requirements to wear masks indoors starting Aug 29, as the country sees its COVID-19 situation stabilize further, the health minister said on Wednesday.
For the first time in more than two years, people in the Southeast Asian city-state will no longer be required to wear masks indoors except on public transport and in high-risk settings like healthcare facilities.
The health ministry also updated rules for non-vaccinated travellers, dropping a 7-day quarantine requirement starting next week.
Singapore, which is a major Asian financial and travel hub, lifted most pandemic curbs, including travel restrictions, earlier this year.
About 70 percent of the city-state's 5.5 million population has already contracted COVID-19, Ong Ye Kung, the health minister said in a news conference, adding that the re-infection rate is so far "very low".
Singapore has vaccinated more than 90 percent of its population and has among the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the world.
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 139,339 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 22,588,640, the health authorities said Wednesday.
The daily caseload was down from 150,258 the previous day and lower than 180,763 tallied a week ago, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 129,473.
The number of infected people who were in serious condition stood at 573, up 86 from the previous day.
Sixty-three more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 26,224. The total fatality rate was 0.12 percent.
A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 3,252 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up 1,055 from Monday, according to the Ministry of Health.
Among the new cases, 57 were imported and the rest were locally transmitted, said the health ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,389,268. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Tuesday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,106.