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)
JAKARTA / YANGON / HANOI / SINGAPORE / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / WELLINGTON / ISLAMABAD / SUVA – Singapore said on Thursday it will lift quarantine requirements for all vaccinated travelers from next month, joining a string of countries in Asia moving more firmly toward a "living with the virus" approach.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the financial hub will also drop requirements to wear masks outdoors and allow larger groups to gather.
"Our fight against COVID-19 has reached a major turning point," Lee said in a televised speech that was also streamed on Facebook. "We will be making a decisive move towards living with COVID-19."
Singapore was one of the first countries to shift from a containment strategy to new COVID-19 normal for its 5.5 million population, but had to slow some of its easing plans due to subsequent outbreaks.
Lee said Singapore officials would continue to remove restrictions at a measured pace.
Now, as infection surges caused by the Omicron variant begin to subside in most countries in the region and vaccination rates improve, Singapore and other nations are removing a host of social distancing measures designed to stop the spread of the virus.
Singapore began lifting quarantine restrictions for vaccinated travelers from certain countries in September, with 32 countries on the list before Thursday's extension to vaccinated visitors from any nation.
Japan lifted this week restrictions imposed on Tokyo and 17 other prefectures that had limited hours of eateries and other businesses.
South Korea, where COVID-19 infections this week topped 10 million but appear to be stabilizing, pushed back a curfew on eateries to 11 pm, stopped enforcing vaccine passes and dropped quarantine for vaccinated travelers arriving from overseas.
Australia will lift its entry ban for international cruise ships next month, effectively ending all major COVID-related travel bans after two years.
New Zealand this week ended mandatory vaccine passes to visit restaurants, coffee shops and other public spaces. It will also lift vaccine mandates for a number of sectors from April 4 and open the borders for those on visa-waiver programs from May.
Travelers are processed at the international arrivals hall at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban near Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Feb 16, 2022, after a Singapore Airlines flight arrived following a nearly two-year break due to COVID-19. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)
Indonesia
Indonesia will lift a ban on domestic travel during the Muslim holiday season of Eid al-Fitr in early May, President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday, after banning the annual tradition for two years during the pandemic.
The decision to allow the annual exodus after the holy month of Ramadan is the latest in a series of measures aimed at easing COVID-19 restrictions and reviving Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Indonesia, a country of 270 million, banned the mass travel known locally as 'mudik' in early 2020 as it scrambled to contain the spread of coronavirus along with the rest of the world.
But millions of people flouted the poorly enforced ban and left urban centres for their home towns and villages, as is the tradition in the predominantly Muslim country.
As COVID-19 cases plateau after peaking in mid-February because of the virulent Omicron variant, authorities are lifting domestic and overseas travel restrictions.
"The improving COVID situation has brought optimism as the Ramadan holy month is upon us," the president, commonly known as Jokowi, told a news conference.
Earlier this week, Indonesia dropped quarantine rules for vaccinated foreign arrivals, following similar moves by other countries in the region.
International travelers are now only required to show negative PCR test results upon arrival, the president added.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 22,491 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,054,926, according to the Health Ministry.
There are 382 new imported cases, with 22,109 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
A further 65 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 34,600.
A woman receives a shot of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug 29, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Myanmar
Myanmar launched the production of Myancopharm COVID-19 vaccines here on Wednesday at Myanmar Pharmaceutical Industry (MPI) in collaboration with China.
Lt-Gen. Aung Lin Dwe, secretary of the State Administration Council (SAC), said Myanmar has trialed and produced COVID-19 vaccines domestically in cooperation with Sinopharm CNBG.
"Technology for vaccine production was obtained and foreign currency use would be reduced as Myancopharm COVID-19 vaccines were successfully produced in the country," he said.
Chinese Ambassador Chen Hai said Sinopharm's cooperative Ready to Fill (RTF) Bulk vaccine plant with Myanmar is the Chinese pharmaceutical company's first COVID-19 vaccine plant officially put into operation in the Asia-Pacific, which will help Myanmar strengthen its capacity to independently produce vaccines.
Union Minister for Ministry of Industry Charlie Than said the ministry and Sinopharm CNBG signed the agreement of RTF Bulk purchase for the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Myanmar on Dec. 22 last year.
The ministry will be manufacturing 1 million doses of vaccine per month, targeting 10 million doses for 2022-2023 Fiscal Year. The vaccines will be distributed to the Ministry of Health starting in April, he stressed.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's Ministry of Information has announced to reopen about 60 movie theaters in the country starting on April 17, in accordance with Health Ministry's COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
"Some 60 movie theaters were allowed to reopen in the first phase starting on April 17, Myanmar New Year, in line with standard operating procedures (SOPs) for reopening of theaters," U Aye Kywe, a director-general from the Ministry of Information, told Xinhua on Thursday.
Myanmar has seen a decline in COVID-19 cases over the past week, with daily cases dropping to 267 on Wednesday, when the ministry made the announcement of reopening movie theaters.
Passengers and loved ones reunite at the arrivals hall on the first day of New Zealanders returning from Australia after the border reopened for travelers observing home self-isolation rules, at the Auckland international airport on Feb 28, 2022. (DAVID ROWLAND / AFP)
New Zealand
New Zealand reported 18,423 new community cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.
Among the new community infections, 3,629 were in the largest city Auckland. The rest of the cases were identified across the nation, including 3,150 in Canterbury, according to the ministry.
In addition, there were 44 new cases of COVID-19 detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry.
Pakistan
A downward trend in Pakistan's daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths has been witnessed after the country reported zero death for the second day Wednesday, according to statistics released by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Thursday.
Pakistan has recorded 210 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, raising the overall number of confirmed cases to 1,523,072 in the South Asian country, said the NCOC, a department leading the country's campaign against the pandemic.
South Korea
South Korea reported 395,598 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 10,822,836, the health authorities said Thursday.
The daily caseload was down sharply from 490,881 in the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
A woman (center) carries a refilled gas container in the center of the capital Nuku'alofa ahead of the country's first lockdown on Feb 2, 2022, after COVID-19 was detected in the previously virus-free Pacific kingdom as it struggles to recover from the deadly Jan 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami. (MARY LYN FONUA / MATANGI TONGA / AFP)
Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa
More COVID-19 cases have been reported in Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa in recent days.
According to Tonga's news website Matangi Tonga Online on Thursday, Tonga's Minister for Health Saia Piukala said that a total of 363 new cases were reported in Tonga over a 24-hour period up to 6:00 am on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases in the island nation to 2,919.
In Tonga, the total number of accumulative COVID-19 cases now stands at 4,537, of which, 4,065 cases were recorded in Tonga's main island of Tongatapu.
The minister confirmed that there have been three deaths in Tonga due to COVID-19 while six other deaths of COVID-19 positive people were due to underlying illnesses.
In Vanuatu, 279 new COVID-19 cases were reported from Tuesday to Wednesday this week. Since January this year, the total cases recorded in Vanuatu is 1,373.
Meanwhile, Samoa reported 155 new community cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours to push the country's cumulative total to 622.
Vietnam
Vietnam reported 127,883 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, down 2,852 cases from Tuesday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The new infections, logged in 62 localities nationwide, included 127,878 domestically transmitted and five imported cases.