People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk on a street in Tokyo, Japan, Aug 6, 2021. (KANTARO KOMIYA / AP)SYDNEY / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI / TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / KUWAIT CITY / BEIRUT / WELLINGTON / KATHMANDU / ISLAMABAD / SEOUL / ANKARA / BANGKOK / HANOI / MANILA / TASHKENT / BENGALURU / ULAN BATOR / JAKARTA / VIENTIANE / DHAKA – Japan's tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 1 million on Friday, as concerns grow about the potential collapse of medical systems in the country amid a resurgence of the coronavirus.
Newly reported daily COVID-19 cases in Japan reached a record high of 15,645, public broadcaster NHK reported, after some major prefectures reported record new infection cases
The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 4,515 new COVID-19 cases while Osaka Prefecture confirmed a record 1,310 infections.
Olympic host city Tokyo hit record infection figures for two consecutive days through Thursday, when it confirmed 5,042 cases.
The number of patients hospitalized with serious cases of COVID-19 in Japan rose to 1,020 as of Thursday, the highest since June, according to data from the health ministry
A driver of Finance Minister Taro Aso had caught COVID-19, the Ministry of Finance said, prompting Aso to self-quarantine at home. Aso has shown no symptom but had a PCR test, results of which will be known on Saturday, Kyodo news wire reported.
Meanwhile, the number of patients hospitalized with serious cases of COVID-19 in Japan rose to 1,020 as of Thursday, the highest since June, according to data from the health ministry.
The number increased by 144,000 since the Tokyo Olympics began on July 23. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reiterated that he did not think holding the Games contributed to rising infections.
While infections appear to quickly spread from the capital to other regions, Suga struck a cautious tone on expanding a state of emergency to the entire country.
"We need to take into account local conditions. Each region can take their own step," Suga told reporters in Hiroshima, where he attended a ceremony to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombing.
Suga also said that considering the current COVID-19 situation, a five-party meeting involving organizers and his government will discuss whether to hold the Paralympics with spectators.
The central government, the Tokyo government, the organizing committee, the International Olympic Committee, and the International Paralympic Committee will meet on Sunday after the Olympics end. The Paralympics are scheduled to start on Aug 24, with Tokyo still under a state of emergency.
Australia
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out introducing new laws that would allow employers to mandate COVID-19 vaccines.
Morrison said on Friday afternoon that employers may wish to enforce a "reasonable directive" that staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 but that it must be "consistent with the law".
Morrison said that there were some situations where employers could mandate vaccines but that the government would not introduce laws for wider mandates.
More than half of all Australians woke up to hard lockdowns on Friday as the country battles to contain COVID-19 outbreaks fuelled by the Delta virus variant, with Victoria reporting a slight easing in locally acquired cases.
Lockdowns have been enforced across the east coast, including Australia's three largest cities – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – putting more than 60 percent of the country's 25 million population under strict stay-home orders.
Victoria, home to nearly 7 million people, was plunged into its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began on Thursday night, just weeks after exiting its last, jolting residents and triggering an anti-lockdown rally in state capital Melbourne.
Six locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were detected in Victoria on Friday, a day after several unlinked new infections in Melbourne suddenly emerged. It reported eight cases on Thursday.
Of Friday's cases, all are linked to previously reported ones but were not in quarantine during their infectious period, the state's health department said.
A pedestrian crosses a street in downtown Melbourne on Aug 6, 2021, amid a sixth lockdown for the city in efforts to bring the Delta outbreak to heel. (CON CHRONIS / AFP)In Brisbane, the authorities reported 10 new cases, down from 16 the day before, and added that they were hopeful a lockdown would be lifted as planned on Sunday since all but two cases were isolated before testing positive.
Residents of Newcastle, the second-largest city in neighbouring New South Wales, also came under a week-long lockdown from Thursday after new cases were likely linked to a beach party visited by some infectious Sydney residents.
Sydney, the worst affected city, a day earlier reported 262 infections, its biggest daily rise so far, despite a weeks-long lockdown, with officials bracing for more cases due to the growing number of infected people in the community.
The fast-moving Delta strain is testing Australia's largely successful handling of the coronavirus crisis that has kept its exposure relatively low with just over 35,350 cases and 932 deaths.
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Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 12,606 new COVID-19 cases and 248 more deaths on Friday, taking the tally to 1,335,260 and the death toll to 22,150, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The total number of recoveries in the country went up by 15,494 to 1,172,437, said the DGHS.
Cambodia
Cambodia confirmed another 67 new cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant on Friday, raising the kingdom's total number of the Delta variant cases to 327, the health ministry said in a statement.
The announcement came as the country confirmed a daily record of 588 COVID-19 cases, pushing the national caseload to 80,813.
The new infections included 423 local cases and 165 imported ones, the ministry said.
Nineteen more fatalities were registered, bringing the overall death toll to 1,526, it said, adding that another 624 patients recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 74,045.
India
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,856,757 on Friday as 44,643 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry's latest data.
As many as 464 newly reported deaths since Thursday morning took the overall toll to 426,754.
India may see a third wave as soon as this month, according to forecasters who had accurately predicted the tapering of a delta-driven rise in cases earlier this year.
Only about 495.3 million people from a population of more than 1.3 billion had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Friday, according to the ministry's data.
Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that it had applied for an emergency use approval of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine with Indian authorities on Aug 5.
The US-based pharmaceutical giant said in an emailed statement that its shot will be brought to India through a supply agreement with homegrown vaccine maker Biological E. Ltd.
Indonesia
Indonesia’s health ministry on Friday reported that there were 39,532 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 3,607,863.
The death toll rose by 1,635 to 104,010, the ministry said, adding that the number of recoveries went up by 48,832 to 2,996,478.
As of Friday, at least 22.89 million people in the country have received two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 49.39 million people have received their first dose, the ministry said.
Iran
The Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Thursday reported 38,674 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total infections to 4,057,758 in the country.
The number of Iran's death toll over COVID-19 infection reached 92,628 after 434 new death cases were registered over the past 24 hours across the country.
Israel
Israel's Ministry of Health reported 3,345 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the tally of infections in the country to 889,111.
The death toll from the coronavirus in Israel rose by six to 6,509, the ministry said.
The number of active cases rose to 25,467, the highest since March 16, while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 234 to 262, the ministry added.
Kuwait
Kuwait registered on Thursday 718 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 401,697, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said.
The ministry also announced five more fatalities, taking the death toll in Kuwait to 2,356, while the tally of recoveries rose by 918 to 389,798.
Laos
Laos has increased the quarantine period for those entering the country from 14 days to 28 days following cases of community transmission of the coronavirus.
Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, deputy director general of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Ministry of Health, said Friday that quarantine centers in some provinces will be expanded in order to better accommodate the large volumes of returning migrant workers.
Sisavath said that those returning to Laos will now be required to quarantine for 14 days at the state level, followed by another 14 days quarantine at a district level quarantine center.
Laos recorded 267 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 7,778.
A total of 3,884 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.
Lebanon
Lebanon registered on Thursday 1,148 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases in the country to 567,044, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus in Lebanon rose by five cases to 7,926, the ministry said.
Mongolia
Mongolia registered 1,246 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 171,097, the health ministry said Friday.
Five people aged 80 and above died from the virus during that period, pushing the death toll to 868, said the ministry.
So far, more than 60 percent of the country's total population has been fully vaccinated.
New Zealand
New Zealand reported one new case of COVID-19, a recent returnee in managed isolation facility, and no cases in the community on Friday.
The full travel history of the newly imported case is yet to be obtained and the case has remained in a managed isolation and quarantine facility in Auckland, according to the Ministry of Health.
Nepal
Nepal on Thursday recorded 3,007 new COVID-19 cases, the highest in the past one and a half months which experts attributed to the relaxation in restrictive measures.
The Ministry of Health and Population reported 3,007 new infections and 37 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases to 708,079 and the death toll to 9,994.
The South Asian country last reported more than 3,000 cases on June 22, when the daily figure stood at 3,703.
Pakistan
Pakistan on Thursday confirmed 4,745 new COVID-19 cases, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Friday.
The NCOC, a department leading Pakistan's campaign against the pandemic, said the country's overall cases rose to 1,058,405, including 954,711 recoveries.
The number of active cases rose to 79,992, including 4,157 in critical condition.
This Jan 28, 2021, photo shows the central business district (CBD) of Singapore. (LAURYN ISHAK / BLOOMBERG)
Singapore
Singapore announced Friday plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions on daily life and begin slightly loosening border controls, citing a vaccination rate that now ranks among the best in the world.
Dining-in will resume and group sizes will be raised to five from two on Aug 10 for those who have been fully vaccinated, officials said, outlining a strategy that will intentionally treat those who’ve had both shots differently from those who haven’t. Work-from-home rules are expected to ease the following week. The country will also restart entry approvals for fully vaccinated foreign workers and their dependents.
"We are confident that by National Day (Aug 9), we will have more than 70 percent of us receiving full vaccination," Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said at a news conference.
"When at least 80 percent of our population have received their full vaccination regimens, we will be able to take the next steps towards opening up our economy, social activities, and travel," the health ministry said in a statement.
The country has been tested in recent weeks by outbreaks that spawned hundreds of new infections, with dozens of unlinked cases each day, forcing the government to delay its reopening plans and reimpose strict social curbs. The number of infections has slipped below 100 a day this week, including 93 local cases reported Friday.
Singapore has increased the number of hotels that can be used to quarantine people. More than 90 hotels are currently used to accommodate people coming into the country and those who have been in contact with COVID-19 cases, an increase from more than 70 as of May this year, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Development said in a response to queries from Bloomberg News.
More than 6000 people are quarantined as of Aug 5, a decline from the almost 10,000 seen in late July, according to data from the health ministry. As for travelers arriving in Singapore, there are more than 7,000 staying in hotels currently, the data show.
In this July 13, 2021 photo, people exercise at a gym in Seoul, South Korea. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
South Korea
South Korea will extend its social distancing curbs by two weeks as the government contends with outbreaks nationwide and more people fall severely ill, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on Friday.
The government tightened restrictions last week across most of the country ahead of the country's peak summer holiday period.
Kim said the restrictions were crucial to stamping out cases and ensuring a safe reopening of schools in two weeks.
The KDCA on Friday reported 1,704 cases for Thursday, bringing the total to 207,406 infections, with 2,113 deaths.
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Thailand
Thailand is bracing for the emergence of new COVID-19 clusters as the highly infectious Delta variant rips through more regions outside of its current epicenter of Bangkok metropolitan region.
About 60 percent of Thailand’s new coronavirus cases in recent days have been reported from outside the capital region, with low vaccination rates and looser movement curbs, official data showed.
The country’s rate of new infections per million population at nearly 300 now dwarfs that of Indonesia or India, with a new daily record 21,379 cases reported on Friday. The daily toll also hit a record with 191 deaths, data from the country's COVID-19 taskforce showed.
The figures brought total infections to 714,684 and total fatalities to 5,854 since the pandemic began last year.
Over the past several weeks, Delta-variant cases have surged in nearly all provinces in Thailand, with about 80 percent of new infections now caused by the strain first detected in India.
The rapid spread of Delta may force the government to extend and expand the crippling COVID-containment measures – such as curfews and business closures – that already cover 40 percent of Thailand’s population and three-quarters of the economy. The worsening outbreak may also scuttle plans to reopen borders to fully vaccinated tourists from mid-October and jump-start the tourism-reliant economy that’s seen its currency weaken to a three-year low.
The Philipppines
The Philippines placed its Manila capital region under a two week lockdown on Friday as the Southeast Asian country's health ministry reported 10,623 new coronavirus cases, the largest single-day jump in infections for almost four months.
"All of the areas in the national capital region have positive two week growth rates (in cases)," health ministry spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a news conference.
The surge has pushed the number of confirmed cases in the Philippines to nearly 1.64 million, while the 247 additional deaths recorded on Friday brought the fatality count in the country to 28,673.
To enforce lockdown orders, police have set up quarantine checkpoints around the Manila capital region, an urban sprawl of 16 cities home to more than 13 million people.
Just 9.8 million people, or nearly 9 percent of the Philippines' 110 million population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Manila officials said they would use the two-week lockdown period to vaccinate four million people in the capital region. The Philippines is aiming to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year.
A total of 450 confirmed cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 have been detected in the Philippines.
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Turkey
Turkey on Thursday registered 24,297 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections in the country to 5,846,784.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 108 to 51,875, while 6,636 more people recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish Health Ministry.
Uzbekistan
COVID-19 cases in Uzbekistan rose by 974 in the past 24 hours to reach 134,826, the highest daily count since the beginning of the year, the health ministry said on Friday.
The Central Asian nation also reported six more coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the nationwide death toll to 916.
More than 9 million vaccine doses have been administered and nearly 1.3 million people have been fully vaccinated, the ministry added.
Local residents walk past a makeshift barricade of parked trucks to stop unauthorized travel at a neighborhood in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, on July 30, 2021, amid a lockdown imposed by the government to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam's capital Hanoi will extend coronavirus restrictions until Aug 22, the state Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Friday, after authorities warned of new clusters of infections detected in the city of more than eight million people.
Hanoi has in the past two weeks ordered people to stay at home and halted all non-essential activities, but a three-fold rise in infections has prompted the city to extend the current curbs that were due to end on Saturday.
The city reported 116 new cases on Friday and has recorded 2,184 cases since the pandemic began, official data showed.
While the numbers are still low, authorities are wary after the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus has helped drive up infections across the country to a total of 193,000 cases.
The ministry reported 8,324 new infections on Friday, up from 7,244 cases on Thursday. It reported 296 additional coronavirus deaths on the same day, raising the country's death toll to 3,016.
Just 820,000 people have been fully vaccinated in Vietnam, or less than 1 percent of the country's 98 million population, according to official data.