Staff check a client at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan 8, 2022. (MARK BAKER / AP)
SYDNEY / SUVA / MANILA / SINGAPORE / HANOI – The government of the Australian state of New South Wales has revised the COVID-19 reinfection period from 12 weeks down to four weeks, the period which individuals were not asked to monitor for symptoms.
Under the new ruling, effective from Tuesday, people would be required to test for COVID-19 if they experience symptoms 28 days after recovering from an initial infection. People who test positive would be treated as new cases.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerry Chant said the reduced period came following advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, which is the federal body for public health emergency management.
"The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants are circulating widely in NSW. They are more able to evade immunity gained from previous infection and vaccination. Reinfection is more likely and possible just weeks after a prior infection," Chant said on Monday.
Chant also urged members of the community to access booster shots as soon as possible as cases were expected to peak in late July or early August.
Last Thursday, Australia's federal government extended eligibility for a fourth vaccine to people 30 years and older due to a surge of cases expected in the coming months.
While double vaccine doses are extremely high across Australia, booster doses have lagged reaching just 68.3 percent for eligible adults in NSW as of Tuesday.
On Tuesday NSW recorded 10,806 new cases and 20 deaths. In the week to Tuesday, there have been 122 deaths reported by NSW Health.
Traditional dancers in grass skirts welcome holidaymakers in Nadi on Dec 1, 2021, as Fiji opens its borders to international travelers for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and devastated its tourism-reliant economy. (LEON LORD / AFP)
Fiji
Fiji has reported three more COVID-19-related deaths and 289 COVID-19 cases over the past few days.
Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong said the three deaths, two old women and one old man, occurred since Sunday and two of them were fully vaccinated, according to the Fijivillage news website on Tuesday.
In recent months, severe disease and death in Fiji have only been seen in people with significant underlying medical conditions and the elderly, he said, adding that the three people were with multiple pre-existing medical conditions and their deaths also highlighted the need for early medical care.
According to Fong, Fiji recorded 289 new COVID-19 cases since last Friday.
A child receives the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 as a performer dressed as superhero character Spider-Man looks on at a gym in San Juan City, suburban Manila on Feb 7, 2022. (TED ALJIBE / AFP)
Philippines
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,660 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,720,054.
Currently there are 14,218 active cases and the death toll remains unchanged at 60,640 with no new deaths reported from the pandemic on Monday.
The country's COVID-19 infections are rising in number. The DOH recorded 10,271 COVID-19 cases in a weekly bulletin from July 4 to 10, 39 percent higher than the previous week.
Singapore Airlines stewardesses walk past a giant lollipop candy display at Changi International Airport in Singapore on April 1, 2022, as Singapore reopened its land and air borders to travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. (ROSLOAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore reported 4,495 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total tally to 1,534,799.
Of the new cases, 339 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 4,156 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 321 were local transmissions and 18 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 3,975 local transmissions and 181 imported cases.
No new deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Monday, leaving the death toll unchanged at 1,432, the ministry said.
Passengers wait for transportation outside the arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on March 15, 2022, as Vietnam announced the return of a visa exemption policy for 13 countries in an effort to kickstart its tourism sector. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 568 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, up by 103 from Sunday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The infections brought the total tally to 10,755,381 with 43,089 deaths.