This Aug 3, 2021 photo shows a deserted street in the Chinatown area of Singapore. (LAURYN ISHAK / BLOOMBERG)
WELLINGTON / SYDNEY / JAKARTA / NEW DELHI / TEHRAN / ISLAMABAD / ULAN BATOR / RAMALLAH / SINGAPORE / ANKARA / COLOMBO / JERUSALEM – Singapore will pause on plans to further loosen virus curbs after a recent rise in cases, and plans to start vaccine booster shots soon for vulnerable groups as highly-contagious variants remain a concern.
With one of the world’s best vaccination rates, Singapore plans to boost testing and allow infected people with mild symptoms to recover at home. The government is also targeting to start booster shots for those above 60 years and people who are immunocompromised this month.
The country is moving into a phase of “living with COVID” and there is no need to impose more restrictions, Finance Minister and co-chair of the virus taskforce Lawrence Wong said at a Friday briefing.
“We would only revert to such a tightened posture as a last resort to prevent our hospital system from being overwhelmed,” he said. “At the same time, we do not intend to make any new opening moves at this juncture, because there is a time lag between the onset of infections to serious illness, and so we want to take some time to monitor the situation.”
The current measures will remain "for a while more" to allow authorities to monitor the situation, Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong said at the same briefing. Meanwhile, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung expects about 85 percent of the population to be inoculated within a month.
Singapore’s resolve has been tested in recent weeks with Friday’s cases going well above 200, marking the highest number of infections in the broader community since the start of the pandemic.
The ministers had earlier anticipated a rise in cases following a gradual loosening of strict containment curbs as part of reopening strategy geared toward treating the virus as endemic, though they pointed out on Friday that serious cases remain stable.
Currently, there are 528 cases warded in hospitals with most under observation while five are in critical condition and 27 require oxygen supplementation, government data showed.
Those above 60 who are among the first to be offered vaccines, and many who completed their second shot around March, will be eligible for their third dose this month. For the immunocompromised, they are recommended to get a third dose two months after their second shot, officials said.
In another development, Singapore has issued Vaccinated Travel Passes to 735 travelers from Germany and 20 from Brunei Darussalam as of Sept 1, according to a statement by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
Australia
Australia will receive an additional 4 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine this month after agreeing a swap deal with Britain, to help accelerate its vaccination program amid a record surge in infections.
The deal, announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday, will double the availability of Pfizer vaccines this month, with the first shipment of vaccines from Britain expected to arrive over the weekend.
Australia on Friday recorded its biggest one-day rise in COVID-19 infections, with 1,657 new cases and 13 deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
"On a difficult day like this, it’s important to bring hope. And, I can assure you, there is hope," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
"This will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again."
Since the pandemic began, Australia has reported a total of nearly 58,200 cases and 1,032 deaths.
Indonesia
The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 7,797 within one day to 4,116,890, while the death toll increased by 574 to 134,930, the country's Health Ministry said on Friday.
According to the ministry, 15,544 more patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,813,643.
To date, at least 37.64 million people in the country have received two shots of vaccines while 65.89 million have gotten their first dose, the ministry added.
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India
India has granted homegrown drugmaker Biological E permission to begin midstage studies of its COVID-19 vaccine in children and adolescents, according to an official statement on Friday.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave the approval to the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company on Sept 1, the statement said.
The company will study the safety and tolerability of its vaccine, CORBEVAX, in this population, it added.
So far, six vaccines have been authorized for use in the country where only about 11.28 percent of the entire population has been fully vaccinated so far, according to Johns Hopkins data.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 32,903,289 on Friday, as 45,352 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 366 deaths due to the pandemic since Thursday morning took the total death toll to 439,895.
Most single-day new cases and deaths were reported from the southern state of Kerala, where 32,097 new cases and 188 deaths were reported alone during the past 24 hours.
India tightened curbs on movement in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, with scores of armed soldiers fanning out ahead of prayers on Friday, a day after a veteran secessionist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, 91, was laid to rest in the disputed Himalayan region.
Public movements were restricted in the city and elsewhere in Kashmir, a government official said.
"More troops have been deployed in sensitive areas and more roads have been barricaded," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Iran
Iran will receive a “large volume” of Sinopharm vaccines from China in the coming days and through September, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without specifying the number.
The Health Ministry said it’s administered 28.7 million vaccine doses so far in the country's population of 85 million.
Iran on Thursday reported 30,279 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 5,055,512.
The pandemic has so far claimed 108,988 lives in the country, after 595 new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, said Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
A total of 4,269,508 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,831 remained in intensive care units, according to the ministry.
Israel
Israel's health ministry reported a daily new high of 11,210 COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the nationwide caseload to 1,101,406.
The ministry also reported 32 more deaths from the virus, taking the death toll to 7,122.
The number of patients in serious condition increased from 666 to 667, the ministry said.
The total recoveries climbed to 1,002,348 after 10,866 newly recovered cases were recorded, while the number of active cases rose to 91,936, it added.
The number of people who have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Israel surpassed 6 million, or 64.3 percent of its total population, while over 5.5 million have taken two doses, and over 2.49 million have received three jabs.
Japan
Japan plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions in October or November as the vaccination drive progresses, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing a draft of the plans. The plan would allow eateries to serve alcohol and stay open later even in areas covered by a state of emergency, allow vaccinated persons to travel across prefectures, and considers easing restrictions on large events and resuming initiatives designed to stimulate local tourism.
The government also may use vaccination certificates and Covid test results, the paper reported.
Kiribati
Kiribati began rolling out the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines on Friday.
President Taneti Maamau, Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr. Tinte Itinteang, Chinese Ambassador to Kiribati Tang Songgen and other officials attended the ceremony held in Tarawa, capital of Kiribati.
The vaccines, which arrived in the south Pacific island country on Wednesday, were donated by China to help the country better prevent an outbreak of the pandemic.
Malaysia
Malaysia’s health ministry on Friday reported 19,378 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national tally to 1,805,382.
Another 330 more deaths were also reported, taking the death toll to 17,521.
The number of recoveries rose by 22,399 to 1,528,672, or 84.7 percent of all cases.
The country reported that 369,280 vaccine doses were administered on Thursday. Some 61.6 percent of the population have received at least one dose and 47.2 percent of the people have been fully vaccinated.
Malaysia plans to reopen the tourist haven of Langkawi islands, mirroring Thailand’s reopening plan based on a pilot project in the resort island of Phuket. Langkawi will reopen to locals under a travel-bubble plan from Sept 16, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Thursday, with other destinations allowed to operate when the local vaccination rate hits 80 percent.
Mongolia
Mongolia reported 3,638 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the third day in a row in which new cases surpassed the 3,000 mark, the country's health ministry said Friday.
The ministry said that the latest confirmed cases were all local infections, and 810 of them were detected in Ulan Bator, the capital of the country, which is hardest hit by COVID-19.
The viral disease has so far claimed 951 lives after three more people aged over 20 died in the past day.
A man wearing a face mask walks on a street during a nationwide covid-19 lockdown in Wellington on Aug 18, 2021. (MARTY MELVILLE / AFP)
New Zealand
New Zealand reported 28 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a big drop compared to the last few days, as authorities said the country was breaking the chain of transmission of the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus.
Authorities said 27 new cases were in Auckland and one was in Wellington. Friday's numbers were lower than 49 new cases reported on Thursday and 75 the day before.
"While the fall is encouraging we are mindful these outbreaks can have a long tail…," Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McEnlay said in a news conference.
"We are being successful in breaking the chain of transmission," she said.
Barring a few cases in February, New Zealand had been largely free of coronavirus until the Delta outbreak prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to order the snap lockdown last month.
About 1.7 million people in the largest city of Auckland still remain in strict level 4 lockdown. Curbs have been eased in the rest of the countries but schools and offices as well as cafe, restaurants and all public venues remain shut. Most New Zealanders have been asked to stay indoors.
Ardern's lockdowns and international border closure since March 2020 have been credited with reining in COVID-19, largely freeing up day-to-day activities from curbs.
But the government faces questions over a delayed vaccine rollout that has left a majority of the population exposed to the latest outbreak.
New Zealand has reported 3,372 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 26 related deaths.
Pakistan
Pakistan on Thursday reported 3,787 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 that the country's number of overall confirmed cases had risen to 1,171,578, including 1,055,467 those who have recovered after treatment.
The number of active cases has dropped to 90,076 who are under treatment across the country, including 5,606 critical patients.
Palestine
Palestine on Thursday recorded the highest daily deaths and infections from the COVID-19, due to the fast spread of Delta variant in the Palestinian territories.
Mai al-Kaila, the Palestinian minister of health, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Palestine recorded 11 fatalities and 2,886 new COVID-19 cases in the Palestinian territories in the last 24 hours.
"The number of infections and deaths is on the rise due to the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus, which is the most prevalent among the youths," she said, adding that "there is a noticeable increase in the occupancy of beds in the hospitals."
Al-Kaila warned that the rise of numbers of infections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip also increased the occupancy of intensive care beds and ventilators, adding that "this means we are in a severe danger."
She called on the Palestinians to immediately receive the necessary vaccine and abide by all the precautionary measures, mainly social distancing and wearing face masks in all public places.
Al-Kaila said that six people died in the West Bank and five others in the Gaza Strip, leading to 3,967 the total number of people who died of the COVID-19 infections in the Palestinian territories since March last year.
She also said that 1,178 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the West Bank, 113 in East Jerusalem, and 1,595 in the Gaza Strip.
Asked about the rollout of vaccines, al-Kaila said that over 1,040,522 people had received their first jab of the vaccine in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of whom 462,693 have been fully vaccinated.
Pedestrians walk on a street in Seoul on Aug 29, 2021. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
South Korea
Three cases of the mu variant were identified in South Korea from those who visited Mexico, the US and Colombia, according to a statement from Korea Disease Control & Prevention Agency. Authorities will strengthen monitoring of the variant, the statement said.
South Korea will maintain current level 4 social-distancing measures in the Greater Seoul area, and level 3 rules in other areas, through Oct 3, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said.
Closing hours of restaurants and cafes in Greater Seoul will be extended by an hour to 10 pm as of Sept 6. The plan also lays out the maximum number of people who can gather, depending on their vaccination status, with higher limits allowed over the Chuseok Thanksgiving holidays later this month.
South Korea reported 1,709 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 257,110.
Five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 2,308. The total fatality rate stood at 0.90 percent.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday that a nationwide quarantine curfew which came into effect on Aug 20 will be further extended until Sept 13 due to a rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The curfew was originally scheduled to be lifted on Sept 6 at 4:00 am.local time, but after a meeting between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the COVID-19 Task Force on Friday morning, it was announced that the quarantine curfew would be extended.
Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said progress will be made via the ongoing vaccination drive in the interim to curb the COVID-19 infection spike.
Sri Lanka is facing a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections with 447,757 cases detected since March last year.
Currently, the number of active patients stood at nearly 60,000, statistics from the Health Ministry showed, and 9,604 deaths have been reported so far.
Thailand
Thailand reported 14,653 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily level in more than five weeks, according to government data Friday. Total cumulative infections were at 1.25 million, while the country reported 271 new Covid-related deaths, taking the cumulative death toll to 12,374.
The Philippines
The Philippine capital region may see anywhere from 16,000 to 43,000 COVID-19 cases per day by the end of September, the Health Department said in a statement. Faster isolation of infections, strict use of masks and distancing, and quicker vaccine rollout can still change the high daily case projections, the agency added.
The Philippines approved the use of Moderna’s vaccine for ages 12-17, the head of the country’s Food and Drug Administration said by text message. Authorities recorded 16,621 COVID-19 cases Thursday, bringing total infections in the Philippines to more than 2 million.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 20,310 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,040,568.
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Turkey
Turkey will allow companies to require weekly PCR tests for unvaccinated workers starting from Sept 6, state-run Anadolu Agency cited the Labor Ministry as saying.
About 90 percent of the people who died of the COVID-19 in Turkey were either not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.
"About 90 percent of our hospitalized citizens were not fully vaccinated. And 90 percent of those who died were either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated," the minister said at a press conference.
Koca explained that the most intense age group of COVID-19 cases is between 15-45, and that is why the number of cases in Turkey has increased.
Turkey on Thursday confirmed 23,496 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 6,435,773, according to its health ministry.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 283 to 57,283, while 20,004 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.
A woman rides a scooter along a street decorated with Vietnamese national flags ahead of Vietnam's National Day celebrations in Hanoi on Sept 1, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam's coronavirus epicenter Ho Chi Minh City is proposing to emerge from a strict lockdown and resume economic activities from Sept 15, shifting from its "Zero-COVID-19" strategy to living with the virus, according to a draft proposal.
The city of 9 million people is targeting a phased reopening of its economy and the full vaccination of its citizens by the end of this year, according to the draft seen by Reuters, which has yet to be endorsed.
Ho Chi Minh City last month deployed troops to enforce its lockdown and prohibited residents from leaving their homes to slow a spiralling rate of deaths. Just 2.9 percent of Vietnam's 98 million population has been fully vaccinated.
The draft proposes that the city, a business hub flanked by crucial industrialised provinces, moves past a containment strategy to focus on reviving the economy while maintaining stringent health protocols.
The city aims to "promote economic recovery … and move towards living with COVID-19," the draft proposal said.
The reopening would be gradual, and low-interest loans and tax cuts would be offered to affected firms, it said.
Vietnam's health ministry on Friday reported 14,922 coronavirus infections, a record daily increase, raising its caseload to 501,649 with 12,476 deaths.
Ho Chi Minh City alone has recorded 232,600 coronavirus infections and 9,724 deaths, representing half of the country cases and 80 percent of its fatalities.
The vast majority of those have come in recent months, marking the end of what was one of the world's best COVID-19 containment records, one it had hoped to preserve through quarantining and aggressive contact-tracing.
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