People wait to be tested for COVID-19 at the Urban Institute for Disease Prevention and Control in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan 11, 2021. (JACK TAYLOR / AFP)
KABUL / JAKARTA / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / BISHKEK / BEIRUT / WELLINGTON / ULAN BATOR / MUSCAT / DOHA / SINGAPORE / SEOUL / BANGKOK / MANILA / ANKARA / MANAMA / HANOI / DUBAI – Thailand will begin clinical trials of a locally developed COVID-19 vaccine in March, making it the nation’s first inoculation program to enter human trials.
The program, led by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, Mahidol University and PATH, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, started its research mid-2020 and its animal testings showed promising results, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson is seeking to register its COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in Thailand.
The FDA said there are three companies that have requested the vaccine emergency use authorization in the Southeast Asian country, with the other two being AstraZeneca and China's Sinovac Biotech.
Thailand will use China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to kick off its national vaccination program, which aims to inoculate some two thirds of the country's eligible people, according to media reports.
Thailand is expected to approve the Chinese vaccine for emergency use "parallel to the arrival of the first shipment" later this month, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Thailand on Wednesday confirmed one more fatality and 157 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's total caseload to 23,903, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
Gulf region
Several Gulf Arab states have seen daily coronavirus cases climb back towards highs recorded last year, prompting authorities to re-impose restrictions on travel and gatherings as they roll out vaccination campaigns.
Bahrain on Tuesday registered 759 new daily infections, slightly above a record hit in September. It banned prayers at mosques for two weeks as of Thursday, state news agency BNA reported. Daily infections had fallen below 200 late last year.
In Kuwait, daily cases rose above 1,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May after having fallen below 300 in December.
Saudi Arabia, where daily infections have risen to above 300 but are still far from highs near 4,000 reached last year, has indefinitely suspended entry for non-citizens from 20 countries with the exception of diplomats and health workers.
The United Arab Emirates, the region’s tourism hub to which visitors flocked in December, has seen the biggest surge with daily infections tripling in around six weeks to a record 3,977 on Feb 3.
The numbers have since edged down but the UAE on Tuesday recorded 17 deaths linked to the virus, its highest daily figure since the outbreak began.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry reported 18 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the country's tally to 55,420, including 4,868 active cases.
The death toll went up by one to 2,419, the ministry said in a statement.
Bahrain
Bahrain's health regulator on Wednesday approved Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V for emergency use.
The National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) said the decision to authorize the Sputnik V shot was based on data provided by the manufacturing company and results of an expanded study.
Sputnik V will be the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be offered to people in Bahrain above the age of 18 for free, following the approval of vaccines from Sinopharm, Pfizer/Biontech, and Oxford-AstraZeneca.
Australia
A hotel in Melbourne being used to quarantine overseas arrivals has been closed after new coronavirus cases were linked to it. The Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport will close until further notice, Victoria state quarantine authorities said.
About 135 staff and 48 residents who were in the hotel between Jan 7 and Feb 9 will need to enter a 14-day quarantine, while two schools located in the suburb that’s recorded seven new exposure sites have closed as a precaution.
Cambodia
Cambodia launched a COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Wednesday here in four hospitals after receiving a donation of Sinopharm vaccines from China on Sunday.
Hun Manet, the eldest son of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, got the first dose of the jab at the Calmette Hospital in the capital Phnom Penh as the drive started at 8:00 am local time.
Cambodia reported two new imported COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 478, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.
India
India’s capital New Delhi didn’t report any coronavirus-related deaths for the first time in nine months, a milestone for a city that had emerged as a hotspot for the pandemic.
With a population of about 16 million, it has reported 10,882 deaths since the city recorded its first casualty on March 13, according to health ministry data. The last time the city reported a zero figure before Tuesday was on May 11.
The Indian army is training dogs to find COVID-19 in its ranks by sniffing human sweat and urine, a senior officer said on Tuesday.
Breeds such as cocker spaniels and labradors are being trained to detect the disease from the cells of infected people at a facility in New Delhi.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,858,371 on Wednesday as 11,067 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the health ministry.
According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 155,252 as 94 COVID-19 patients died since Tuesday morning.
Furniture builder PT Funisia Perkasa shifted some of its production into making caskets in Jakarta. (DIMAS ARDIAN / BLOOMBERG)
Indonesia
Indonesia’s capital is racing to open more cemeteries to cope with the coronavirus death toll that has doubled in less than three months despite vaccination efforts.
Jakarta’s government bought more than three hectares of land to use as dedicated cemeteries for those who have died from COVID-19, said Suzi Marsitawati, who heads the province’s park and forest service. The new sites will accommodate at least 8,000 burial plots, after the existing two cemeteries hit capacity.
It’s a grim reminder of Indonesia’s struggle to contain the virus spread as scant testing and loose quarantine measures push infection and fatality counts to the highest in Southeast Asia. The outbreak has taken a turn for the worse since the holidays late last year -COVID-19 deaths have doubled since November to reach almost 32,000.
The availability of burial plots and funeral supplies is important in a country that’s home to the world’s largest Muslim population, where the religion bans cremation and urges believers to ensure the dead are buried within 24 hours.
Indonesia's health ministry reported Wednesday the country's COVID-19 tally has risen by 8,776 to 1,183,555, while the death toll went up by 191 to 32,167.
According to the ministry, 9,520 more people were discharged from hospitals after recovery, bringing the total number of recoveriess to 982,972.
Iran
Iran's Health Ministry reported 7,585 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,488,981.
The death toll rose by 61 to 58,686, said Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
A total of 1,272,287 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, while 3,743 remain in intensive care units, she added.
Iraq
The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Tuesday 1,994 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily record in 2021, bringing the tally to 632,257.
The new cases included 673 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 262 in Najaf, 240 in Karbala, 142 Babil, and 128 in Basra, while the other cases were detected in other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also reported eight new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,134, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 977 to 602,018.
A total of 6,016,017 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 41,513 done during the day, according to the statement.
Foreign residents in Israel queue to receive a dose of COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre for foreign nationals in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on Feb 9, 2021. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Israel
Israel plans to open up some hotels, gyms and other leisure facilities in two weeks to those documented as being immune to COVID-19, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Wednesday, in a possible harbinger of a wider emergence from the pandemic.
Having administered Pfizer Inc vaccines to almost 40 percent of its 9 million population, Israel saw first signs of managing to outpace highly contagious virus variants, he added.
Israel has said it would issue an official app allowing users to link up to their Health Ministry files and show if they have been vaccinated against or recovered from COVID-19, with presumed immunity, in order to gain entry to leisure facilities.
Those to whom neither applies would be able to get a COVID-19 test and, if the result is negative, display it on the app for up to 72 hours of similar access, officials have said.
Initially dubbed “Green Passport”, the system has been renamed “Green Pass” in an apparent bid to head off speculation that it would also enable unfettered travel abroad.
“The estimated (implementation) date is the 23rd of the month,” Edelstein told Ynet TV. “We are talking about gyms, hotels, places like that, where using the Green Pass would be both appropriate and practicable.”
Israel has logged 706,000 COVID-19 cases and 5,233 deaths. The Health Ministry gave a 5.9 percent infection rate on Wednesday, Israel’s lowest in a month. The “R” reproductive rate was at 0.93, having fallen steadily from the 1 threshold this week.
Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday the country would begin COVID-19 vaccinations from the middle of next week.
Suga was speaking at a meeting with officials of the government and the ruling party. Suga had earlier said the vaccinations would start in mid-February.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government is planning to keep the state of emergency in the 10 prefectures despite earlier reports that it was considering lifting it in some areas, broadcaster FNN reported. Officials see the need to keep the emergency in place to ease pressure on the medical system, FNN reported.
The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 491 new COVID-19 infections in the capital on Wednesday, bringing the city's cumulative total to more than 105,000.
The city also confirmed 25 additional deaths and designated 103 patients as being in a "serious condition".
Kuwait
Kuwait’s daily COVID-19 tally rose above 1,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May after having fallen below 300 in December.
The country posted 1,002 new cases and six more deaths, bringing the cumulative tally to 172,996 and the death toll to 975.
The country on Feb 7 suspended entry of non-Kuwaitis for two weeks except for first-degree relatives, such as parents and children, and accompanying domestic workers. It also closed gyms and salons.
Kyrgyzstan
A COVID-19 vaccination campaign will begin in Kyrgyzstan on March 1, the country's Health Minister Alymkadyr Beishenaliev said on Wednesday.
Speaking on state radio, the minister said that 504,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive in Kyrgyzstan in late February under COVAX, a global initiative to ensure quick and equal access to vaccines against COVID-19.
Beishenaliev said that in order for life to return to normal, it is necessary to vaccinate at least 70-80 percent of the population.
Lebanon
Lebanon registered on Tuesday 2,886 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 324,866.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the infectious virus in Lebanon increased by 60 to 3,737, while the tally of recoveries soared by 5,356 to 211,879, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 3,288 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, bringing the tally to 251,604, the health ministry said.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that five of the new cases were imported while the rest were locally transmitted.
The death toll rose by 14 to 923.
Supermax Corp, a Malaysian glovemaker, said its manufacturing plant in Meru, Klang, will halt operations for three days starting Wednesday after it discovered several COVID-19 cases among its workers there. The company said the infections likely came from external transporters.
A vendor cooks satay at a market in Karak, in Malaysia's Pahang state, on Jan 20, 2021, ahead of the final night of the market before closing due to restrictions to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
Mongolia
Mongolia reported 54 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 2,174, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Wednesday.
The latest confirmed cases were locally transmitted or detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, according to the center.
New Zealand
The New Zealand government has confirmed formal approval for the use of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday.
Border workers and the people they live with are the first to be vaccinated, the minister said, adding that people such as cleaners, the nurses who undertake health checks in managed isolation facilities, security staff, customs and border officials, airline staff and hotel workers will be among the first to get the vaccine.
Following the provisional approval by New Zealand's medical regulatory body Medsafe last week, the formal government approval for use represents another critical step in the process of ensuring the vaccine is safe and effective for New Zealanders.
New Zealand reported three new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation on Wednesday with no new cases in the community.
The three new border cases came from Germany, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates, and have been staying in Auckland isolation facilities, according to the Ministry of Health.
In this Feb 02, 2021 photo, a health worker holds a vial with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against the novel coronavirus at the vaccination center in Freising, southern Germany, on Feb 2, 2021. (CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP)
Oman
Oman's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 136,187, with 197 new cases registered on Tuesday, local media reported.
The total recoveries rose to 128,089, and the fatalities hit 1,536, with one new death, according to a ministry statement quoted by the official Oman News Agency (ONA).
Oman witnessed a steady increase in the number of new cases infected with COVID-19, Adel Al Wahaibi, director of the ministry's Epidemiological Surveillance Department was quoted as saying by the ONA.
Qatar
The Qatari health ministry on Tuesday announced 477 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 155,002, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Singapore
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 11 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 59,732.
Of the new cases, all are imported ones. Among the new cases is a 41 year-old female Singaporean who works as a cabin crew with Singapore Airlines and has recently flied to the United Arab Emirates.
READ MORE: Thailand's daily COVID-19 cases continue to drop
Passengers embark their trains at Seoul railway station, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in Seoul on Feb 10, 2021. (ED JONES / AFP)
South Korea
South Korea’s drug safety ministry on Wednesday said it will approve use of AstraZeneca PLC’s COVID-19 vaccine for all people, including those aged 65 and over.
The AstraZeneca shot, co-developed by Britain’s Oxford University, is the first vaccine to be granted approval in the country.
South Korea reported 444 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 81,930.
The daily caseload was up from 303 in the previous day, rising above 400 in six days.
The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since Nov 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.
Four more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,486. The total fatality rate stood at 1.81 percent.
ALSO READ: Malaysia eases virus curbs on economy after costly lockdown
The Philippines
The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Wednesday 1,345 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the country's total tally to 541,560.
The death toll climbed to 11,401 after 114 more patients died from the coronavirus epidemic, the DOH said.
Turkey
Turkey expects to start the human trials of three COVID-19 vaccines developed locally in the upcoming period, Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank announced on Wednesday.
Speaking at a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu agency, Varank said the jabs are inactive, virus-like particle (VLP), and adenovirus-based.
"We have completed all the necessary studies, pre-clinic examinations, and toxicity studies for these three vaccines," he noted, adding that the intermediate results were submitted to the Health Ministry for approval.
According to data from the health ministry, more than 2.7 million citizens have been vaccinated so far.
Turkey on Tuesday reported 8,636 new COVID-19 cases, including 659 symptomatic patients, bringing the tally to 2,548,195.
The death toll rose by 98 to 26,998 while the total recoveries climbed by 8,109 to 2,437,382, according to the ministry.
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported 3,310 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking its tally to 332,603.
The death toll rose by 17 to 947 while the tally of recoveries increased by 3,368 to 313,060.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 22 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, including one imported case and 21 locally transmitted ones, according to the health ministry.
The new cases took the nation's tally to 2,091 with 35 deaths.
Many localities, including the capital city Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, have decided to scale down or cancel traditional fireworks shows on Lunar New Year's Eve in order to reduce crowd gatherings amid the recent COVID-19 resurgence.
Since the latest wave of COVID-19 infections hit Vietnam on Jan 28, 504 community cases have so far been confirmed in 13 cities and provinces, according to the ministry.