Residents enjoy their afternoon on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Dec 22, 2021. (MUHAMMAD FAROOQ / AFP)
SYDNEY / SEOUL / NEW DELHI – Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he tested positive to COVID-19, joining other top government officials in contracting the disease as the daily infection rate surpassed 100,000 for the first time amid an outbreak of the Omicron variant.
"Like thousands of Australians, I tested positive today to COVID-19," Frydenberg wrote in a short message which he posted to Twitter and Facebook late on Friday.
"I have the common symptoms and am isolating with my family," he added without elaborating or disclosing which variant he had.
Other high-ranked Australian lawmakers including Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Defence Minister Peter Dutton have contracted and overcome the illness.
The country reported 116,025 new cases, smashing the previous day's record of just over 78,000. Nearly 100,000 of the new cases were in the most populous states Victoria, which is home to the upcoming Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, and New South Wales
Under current Australian COVID-19 guidelines, people who return a positive test and those deemed "close contacts" must isolate for seven days.
Australia has been posting successive record numbers of new daily infections, with another surge on Saturday.
The country reported 116,025 new cases, smashing the previous day's record of just over 78,000. Nearly 100,000 of the new cases were in the most populous states Victoria, which is home to the upcoming Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, and New South Wales.
Victoria noted that its daily caseload, which more than doubled the previous day's to 51,356, included the results of rapid antigen tests taken up to a week before that could only be tabulated after being submitted on a website starting from Friday.
The country reported 25 new COVID-19 related deaths, its highest since the peak of the Delta wave in October 2021.
Australian leaders, including Frydenberg, have been urging the country to move on from a strategy of stop-start lockdowns now that more than 90 percent of the population aged over 16 is fully vaccinated.
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But state leaders have been reintroducing restrictions amid exploding case numbers, mostly of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Several states have reintroduced mask mandates and suspended non-urgent elective surgery, while New South Wales on Friday resumed bans on dancing and drinking while standing up in bars.
India
India reported 141,986 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the most since the end of May, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus overtakes the Delta version in the cities.
The health ministry also reported 285 new deaths, taking the total to 483,463. Total infections stand at 35.37 million.
South Korea
US Forces Korea raised its health protection alert on Saturday after posting its highest weekly tally of new coronavirus infections, at 682.
The new cases bring the total infections to 3,027. US forces have said nearly 90 percent of its soldiers, families and other affiliated people were vaccinated.
In neighboring Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday the government would tighten curbs in three regions that host US military bases to stem a COVID-19 surge that some officials have said the bases have helped fuel.
The US military's "Bravo Plus" plan in South Korea will ban dining at restaurants outside the bases and visiting indoor malls, bars, clubs, gyms, amusement parks, theaters and massage parlors, US forces said on its website on Friday.
Travel to the capital Seoul is also prohibited, except for official duties or for people who live or work there, but activities including grocery shopping and religious services are allowed.
"Due to the continued presence of COVID-19 within USFK and South Korea, USFK has increased its health protection condition to 'Bravo Plus' peninsula-wide," it said.
READ MORE: Omicron spreads in India's big cities, hospitalizations still low
South Korea had reported record-breaking daily infections of around 7,800 after it eased social distancing rules under a "living with COVID-19" scheme in November, prompting authorities to reinstate tougher curbs the following month.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 3,510 new cases for Friday, bringing the total 661,015, with 5,986 deaths.