People queue for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during the first mega vaccination at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur on May 31, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
DUBAI / WELLINGTON / SYDNEY / PHNOM PENH / MOSCOW / NEW DELHI / TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / KUWAIT CITY / VIENTIANE / KUALA LUMPUR / ULAN BATOR / YANGON / ISLAMABAD / BANGKOK / MANILA / HANOI – Malaysian health authorities have raised concerns about a growing number of coronavirus deaths and serious cases involving children, after a surge in overall infections forced the Southeast Asian nation into a strict lockdown.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared a two-week "total lockdown" from June 1-14, as daily COVID-19 cases and deaths hit record numbers, with the government warning the outbreak may be linked to more contagious variants.
Malaysia recorded the deaths of three children aged below five due to the coronavirus in the first five months of this year, the same number recorded over the whole of 2020, according to Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.
A total of 27 children, including 19 below the age of five, also had to be treated in intensive care between January and May after contracting the virus, up from eight cases last year. On Monday, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said a total of 82,341 children had been infected with the coronavirus between January last year and May 30 this year.
The health authorities said on Friday conditional approval had been granted for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Siam Bioscience Co in Thailand.
DPRK
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has expressed interest in Russia’s Sputnik V and Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccines, the Interfax news agency cited a pharmaceutical source as saying on Friday.
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Pfizer/BioNTech
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have made the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine available as a booster shot to those initially immunised with a vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
The Gulf states, which have vaccinated large portions of their populations, initially started inoculating residents and citizens with the Sinopharm COVID-19 shot before later introducing other vaccines.
Bahrain is currently fighting its biggest wave of infections, while the UAE is recording nearly twice as many COVID-19 cases as it was seven months ago.
In Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, a booster shot is available three months after the second shot had been administered, said a representative of Mubadala Health, part of the state fund.
A different vaccine can be provided as a booster shot but it is at the recipient's discretion and health professionals do not make recommendations, the representative said.
Abu Dhabi has offered the Sinopharm shot to the general public since December and started using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in April. It has been offering third Sinopharm doses since at least last month after it was discovered the shot had not created enough antibodies for some recipients.
In Bahrain, a government representative similarly said those eligible could receive a booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Sinopharm vaccines regardless of which vaccine they had initially taken.
A man walks through an inner-city park in Melbourne on June 3, 2021 as the coronavirus lockdown of Australia's second-biggest city is extended by another seven days, authorities announced as they attempt to stamp out a cluster of cases in Melbourne. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Australia
Australia's Victoria state authorities said on Friday genomic sequencing has detected for the first time the Delta COVID-19 virus variant among infections in the latest virus outbreak in state capital, Melbourne.
"That variant is the Delta variant, it is now infamous in India and increasingly found in the United Kingdom. It is a variant of significant concern," Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne.
Sutton said the new variant had not been linked to any sequenced COVID-19 infections cases across Australia from hotel quarantine or elsewhere.
So far, two Victoria cases have the so-called 'Delta' variant of concern, which is likely the strain that caused the latest devastating wave of COVID-19 in India.
"It is a concern that it is not linked to other cases but we are chasing down all those primary-case contacts … and looking into where it might have been acquired," Sutton said.
Australia's second-most populous state Victoria on Friday reported a slight rise in new locally acquired COVID-19 cases as state capital Melbourne began an extended snap lockdown imposed to contain its latest virus outbreak.
Victorian authorities on Wednesday extended the lockdown in Melbourne for another week until June 10 but eased some curbs elsewhere in the state.
Four new locally acquired cases were reported on Friday, versus three a day earlier, taking the total infections to 65 in the latest outbreak.
The Australian government will fund a dedicated quarantine facility for returning travelers in Victoria.
The government's funding was reportedly at about 200 million Australian dollars (US$153.1 million) according to local media on Friday, for the 500-bed facility, which might be built in either Mickleham in Melbourne's north or Avalon in the west.
Cambodia
Cambodian Ministry of Health (MoH)'s secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine called on people to continue exercising caution as the Southeast Asian nation has seen an uptick in new COVID-19 cases.
The kingdom confirmed 729 new cases on Thursday, bringing the national case tally to 32,189, the MoH said in a statement, adding that six new fatalities were also reported, taking the overall death toll to 236.
India
The coronavirus variant first identified in India is highly infectious and can be caught by people who have already had the disease or been only partially vaccinated, a panel of Indian government scientists said in a report published on Friday.
Dubbed the "delta variant" by the World Health Organization, it is estimated to be 50 percent more transmissible than the coronavirus variant first found in Britain, researchers at Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium and the National Centre for Disease Control said.
They warned that "prior infections … and partial vaccination are insufficient impediments to its spread, as seen in Delhi, and strong public health response will be needed globally for its containment."
The variant has spread to over 50 countries, including Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that its rapid spread could affect the reopening of the economy.
India reported on Friday 132,364 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose by 2,713.
The tally of infections stood at 28.6 million and the deathtoll at 340,702, the health ministry said.
In this May 16, 2021 photo, people, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, walk at Enghelab Square in the centre of Iran's capital Tehran. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Iran
Iran reported on Thursday 9,657 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 2,945,100.
The pandemic has so far claimed 80,658 lives in Iran, up by 170 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a written briefing published on its official website.
Israel
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Israel dropped by 122 on Thursday to 193, the country's Ministry of Health said.
This is the lowest number of active COVID-19 cases in Israel since March 14, 2020, 15 days since the first case was detected in the country.
The ministry also reported 10 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total tally to 839,527.
The death toll in Israel rose to 6,416 with one new fatality, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 40 to 41, out of 77 hospitalized patients. This is the lowest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Israel since March 11, 2020.
Japan
Sanofi said it would start a final phase of clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine in Japan, without providing a date, Nikkei reported.
If approved in Japan, it plans to outsource production to bio-pharmaceutical company Unigen, based in Gifu prefecture.
Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward said it aims to prioritize young people in their 20s and 30s when it begins vaccinating those under the age of 59 in July, the Asahi newspaper reported.
Wards Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi told reporters Wednesday that the younger age group would be prioritized with essential workers for shots considering that they come into contact with people more often.
Japan’s vaccination drive, which had gotten off to a slow start, began to pick up speed last month. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Thursday it would open five mass vaccinations sites with capacity for 5,000 shots a day in July, Jiji reported. It’s looking to moving up the timeline to finish vaccinating all residents in the capital to within this year from a previous March 2022 target.
Kuwait
The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Thursday 1,443 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 313,289.
The ministry also announced four more fatalities, taking the death toll in Kuwait to 1,783, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,087 to 297,329.
Laos
The ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in Laos has been extended till June 19, according to a notice issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
The notice outlines a gradual loosening of lockdown measures, with certain strict measures to remain in place.
Travel within localities that have not experienced an outbreak may continue as usual.
According to the notice, land and air transportation may resume between Lao capital Vientiane and other provinces across the country for passengers who have been fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine for at least one month without a requirement of 14 days quarantine.
International freight and cargo transportation will be required to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures.
Mongolia
Mongolia reported 13 more COVID-19 deaths over the past 24 hours, the record daily count since the start of the pandemic, raising nationwide death toll to 315, the health ministry said Friday.
Meanwhile, the total number of the country's COVID-19 cases rose to 62,585 on Wednesday, after 1,189 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the highest daily count since May 1, the ministry said in a statement.
Myanmar
Myanmar reported 122 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the tally in the country to 143,945, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.
Three new deaths were reported on Thursday, brining the death toll to 3,221 in the country, the release said.
In this April 19, 2021 photo, families are reunited at the airport in Wellington as travelers arrive on the first flight from Sydney, after Australia and New Zealand opened a trans-Tasman quarantine-free travel bubble. (MARTY MELVILLE / AFP)
New Zealand
Following the decision of Australia's Victoria state to extend their lockdown restrictions over COVID-19, New Zealand's quarantine-free travel pause with Victoria will also be extended for an additional six days, with a further review due next Wednesday, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said Thursday.
The pause extension will prevent New Zealanders from returning for almost two weeks, and "New Zealanders will be wanting some certainty around when they can start to plan to come home," Hipkins said in a statement.
The extension will cause further inconvenience to those whose travel plans have already been disrupted, he said.
New Zealand's government has announced plans for a carefully managed commencement of return "green flights" from Melbourne, capital city of the Victoria state, to New Zealand, from June 8 at 11:59 pm, Hipkins said.
Travel on such flights will be limited to New Zealand citizens, Australian citizens normally residing in New Zealand, people with humanitarian exemptions and critical workers stranded in Victoria, he said.
Anyone boarding these flights will need to have a negative pre-departure test for COVID-19 taken less than 72 hours before departure, the minister said, adding travelers have to be confirmed that they have not been at a location of interest.
New Zealand's quarantine-free travel with Australia's Victoria state was suspended on May 25 due to a community outbreak of COVID-19 in Melbourne. The two sides kicked off the Trans-Tasman quarantine-free travel in April, hoping to boost economic and tourism recovery from the pandemic.
Pakistan
Pakistan reported 1,893 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with a positivity rate of 3.58 percent, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Friday.
According to the NCOC, the country's number of overall cases rose to 928,588, including 856,005 recoveries since February of last year when the first case was reported.
According to the NCOC, 83 people died from the pandemic during the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 21,105.
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A visitor wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus, walks along a stream in downtown Seoul, the ROK, June 3, 2021. (LEE JIN-MAN / AP)
ROK
The Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singapore have been in very preliminary, exploratory talks on a possible travel bubble since March, the Straits Times reported, without citing where it got the information.
Singapore is said to be one of top choices for the ROK to launch a travel bubble with. The ROK is considering several countries to establish a travel bubble with, a ROK health ministry official told the newspaper.
The ROK reported 695 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours as of midnight Thursday, bringing the total tally to 142,852.
One more death was recorded from the coronavirus epidemic, taking the COVID-19 related death toll to 1,969. The total fatality rate stood at 1.38 percent, showed the official data.
Singapore
Singapore authorities issued an apology after a 16-year-old boy was given the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which is not approved in the city-state for people under 18, by mistake on Thursday.
The boy’s date of birth was erroneously entered when booking a vaccination appointment, which resulted in his age being incorrectly registered as above 18, thus allowing a Moderna vaccination center to be selected, the country’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education said in a joint statement. The vaccination center staff had failed to verify his age during registration, they said.
The boy remains “generally well” and the Expert Committee for COVID-19 Vaccination does not expect him to suffer any safety issues, according to the statement.
“The safety of those receiving the vaccination is of utmost priority,” the ministries said, adding that they apologized for the inconvenience and anxiety caused.
Singapore started inoculating more than 400,000 students this month, after earlier authorizing the Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE vaccine for children as young as 12 years old.
Singaporean authorities detected seven new coronavirus cases in the local community, with the majority linked to earlier infections, according to Ministry of Health data published on Friday.
Two of these COVID-19 cases were untraceable while five were linked to earlier infections. No new cases were discovered in the foreign worker dormitories, while six imported cases were already under quarantine.
In this March 8, 2021 photo, a health worker dilutes the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Senja-Cashew Community Centre Vaccination Centre, operated by Thomson Medical, in Singapore. (WEI LENG TAY / BLOOMBERG)
Thailand
Thailand will have its promised amount of COVID-19 vaccines for use during this month, a health official said on Friday, amid supply concern and public anxiety ahead of a so far chaotic mass immunisation drive.
Some hospitals have postponed vaccination appointments citing lack of supply, the hospitals said, with one group saying the delay would affect nearly 40,000 people, just days ahead of the start of Thailand's main vaccination programme.
That drive depends on 61 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to be made locally by a firm owned by Thailand's king, which is making vaccines for use across Southeast Asia.
The Thai government had used the Sinovac brand for early inoculations but this week said 11 million more of those had been ordered.
Thailand on Friday reported 2,631 new COVID-19 cases, raising its total caseload to 171,979, according to official data.
The Southeast Asian country also reported 31 new fatalities over the last 24 hours, bringing the country's death toll to 1,177, Natapanu Nopakun, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at a daily news briefing of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration.
The Philippines
The Philippines has shortened the pandemic quarantine period from 14 days to 7 days for all fully vaccinated inbound travelers who received the COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday.
In a statement, Roque said these travelers entering the Philippines are no longer required to undergo COVID-19 RT-PCR or swab test upon arrival. RT-PCR test shall only be done when the individual manifests COVID-19 symptoms within the seven-day quarantine.
Roque said the inter-agency coronavirus task force approved the new guidelines on Thursday.
"An individual shall be considered as having been fully vaccinated two or more weeks after receiving the second dose in a two-dose series, or two or more weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine," Roque explained.
He said that a fully vaccinated individual must carry the vaccination card verified before departure.
After completing the seven-day facility-based quarantine, Roque said the quarantine bureau shall issue a quarantine certificate indicating the individual's vaccination status.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Friday 7,450 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,255,337.
The death toll climbed to 21,537 after 181 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.
Vietnam
Vietnam has approved China’s Sinopharm vaccine for use against COVID-19, local media reported on Friday.
The decision to approve the vaccine was signed by Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The coronavirus vaccine is the third Vietnam has approved, after AstraZeneca and Sputnik V.