The cruise ship Ruby Princess departs from Port Kembla, some 80 kilometers south of Sydney, on April 23, 2020. (SAEED KHAN / AFP)
BAGHDAD / COLOMBO / HANOI / JAKARTA / SINGAPORE / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / SYDNEY / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / WELLINGTON / NEW DEHLI / ISLAMABAD / ULAN BATOR / TOKYO – Australia on Tuesday said it would lift its entry ban for international cruise ships next month, effectively ending all major COVID-related travel bans after two years and boosting a tourism industry hit hard by the pandemic restrictions.
Australia banned the entry of cruise ships in March 2020, when they were the source of about 20 percent of Australia’s early coronavirus infections. The vessels became a flashpoint in its pandemic response after symptomatic passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney, many of whom later tested positive.
The federal government said it would not renew the current ban beyond April 17 as the country begins to live with the coronavirus after reaching higher vaccination levels. Last month, Australia fully reopened its airports to vaccinated international travellers.
Before the pandemic, Australia welcomed more than 600,000 cruise ship passengers across its ports from almost 350 vessels in 2019, according to official data, a major source of revenue for the country’s A$60 billion ($43 billion) tourism industry.
“I can’t wait to see our cruise terminals once again filled with arriving international passengers, getting this important industry ship-shape and back out on the water once more,” Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews said in a statement.
The further ease in restrictions come amid the threat from the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron coronavirus strain, which authorities have warned could double daily infections in the next four to six weeks.
Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant at Suri Seri Begawan Raja Pengiran Anak Damit Mosque in an effort to counter the spread of the COVID-19 in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei on March 17, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)
Brunei
Brunei reported 2,278 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the national tally to 114,371.
All the newly recorded cases were local infections, the country's health ministry said.
As of March 13, 58.6 percent of Brunei's 420,000 population have received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, while more than 94 percent have received one dose and two doses, respectively.
According to the health ministry, four more patients passed away in the past 24 hours, bringing the death tally to 170.
India
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 42,996,062 on Tuesday, as 2,568 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 97 related deaths since Monday morning took the total death toll to 515,974.
Indonesia
Indonesia on Monday confirmed 9,629 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 5,900,124, the country's health ministry said.
According to the ministry, the death toll from COVID-19 in the country rose by 271 to 152,437.
A medic administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in a shopping mall in Iraq's capital Baghdad on Aug 25, 2021. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Iraq
The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority announced on Monday that it will follow the decisions taken by the health authorities to ease COVID-19 restrictions on travelers arriving in or leaving Iraq starting April 1.
The Iraqi Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has decided that all travelers over 12 years old, who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, only need to submit a certificate of receiving two doses of vaccines.
Those who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons need to present a medical report approved by the health authorities and a negative PCR test conducted 72 hours before the flight, according to the decisions.
Earlier this year, Iraq witnessed a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections, especially after the spread of the Omicron variant, but the daily infections dropped in recent weeks to fewer than 1,000 cases.
On Monday, a statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 657 new coronavirus cases, raising the nationwide caseload to 2,313,370.
It also reported six new deaths, bringing the death toll from the virus to 25,105, while the total recoveries in Iraq grew by 1,289 to 2,267,423.
A total of 41,559 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses administered to 10,138,500, it said.
People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk on the street in snow on Feb 10, 2022, in Tokyo. (EUGENE HOSHIKO / AP)
Japan
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will not request an extension of COVID-19 countermeasures scheduled to end on March 21, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The Japanese government will likely announce on Wednesday whether to lift the so-called quasi-state of emergency curbs currently applied in 18 of Japan's 47 prefectures including the capital, Tokyo, local media have said.
The measures centre on limiting business hours for eateries and have been in place since early January as the highly contagious Omicron variant drove up daily infections in the country's sixth wave of the pandemic.
Tokyo logged 7,836 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, down 12 percent from the same day previous week.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 22,030 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Monday, bringing the national total to 3,845,601, according to the health ministry.
There are 394 new imported cases, with 21,636 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
A further 92 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 33,899.
In this June 5, 2020 photo, a medical worker (center) wearing full protective gear takes a swab sample from a man to be tested for the coronavirus on a street in Male, Maldives. (AHMED SHURAU / AFP)
Maldives
The Maldivian Health Protection Agency (HPA) has lifted the mask mandate across the country, local media reported on Monday.
Maldivian health officials made wearing masks mandatory in public spaces in December, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The HPA revised its COVID-19 guidelines on mask mandates following President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's decision to lift the state of public health emergency in the country on Sunday.
Although masks are no longer mandatory in public spaces, the HPA states it is advisable to wear them in situations like large gatherings.
However, mask mandates remain in hospitals and health care centers or if the COVID-19 positivity rate increases above 20 percent in any of the country's islands.
Mongolia
Mongolia registered 97 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, below the benchmark of 100 for three days in a row since Dec 27, 2021 when 83 daily cases were reported, the country's health ministry said Tuesday.
The country's COVID-19 tally has now risen to 468,159, while its COVID-19 death toll stands at 2,105, with no new deaths reported for the fifth consecutive day by Tuesday.
New Zeland
New Zealand reported 21,616 new community cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The ministry also reported two deaths with COVID-19. Both people, one man and one woman, were aged over 70. The total number of publicly reported COVID-19-related deaths is 117 in the country, it said.
Among the infections reported on Tuesday, 6,085 cases were in the biggest city Auckland, said the ministry, adding the epidemic continues to spread across New Zealand, such as the capital city Wellington and the largest city in South Island Christchurch.
Pakistan
Pakistan added 473 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Tuesday.
The overall tally of the infected people climbed to 1,519,627 across the country, said the NCOC, the department leading Pakistan's campaign against the pandemic.
A total of 30,313 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, including four patients who lost their lives to the pandemic over the last 24 hours, the NCOC said.
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)
Singapore
Singapore reported 9,042 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total tally to 948,478.
Of the new cases, 1,444 were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 7,598 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the country's Ministry of Health.
South Korea
South Korea reported 362,338 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 7,228,550, the health authorities said Tuesday.
The daily caseload was sharply up from 309,784 in the previous day, hovering above 300,000 for four straight days, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 161,262 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, a decline of 5,706 cases from Sunday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The new infections, logged in 61 localities nationwide, included 161,247 domestically transmitted and 15 imported.
The newly recorded infections brought the total tally to 6,377,438 with 41,477 deaths.