In this file photo taken on Oct 7, 2021, a
student reacts as she receives a COVID-19 vaccine dose at a vaccination center set up inside a school in Iran's capital Tehran. (PHOTO / AFP)
HANOI / JERUSALEM / SYDNEY / TEHRAN / DHAKA / DUBAI- Iran has confirmed its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the health ministry said on Sunday, while authorities urged Iranians to get their booster doses in the Middle East's worst-hit country.
Deputy Health Minister Kamal Heidari told state TV that the infected person was a middle-age Iranian man who recently returned to Iran from the United Arab Emirates
Deputy Health Minister Kamal Heidari told state TV that the infected person was a middle-age Iranian man who recently returned to Iran from the United Arab Emirates.
"The necessary measures were taken to quarantine this person who lives in Tehran and those who were in contact with him," Heidari said. "This is the first case of Omicron (coronavirus) variant that has been identified in Iran."
Coronavirus deaths have reached 131,083, the health ministry said, while infected cases rose by 1,968 in the past 24 hours to 6,170,979 in the Islamic Republic.
More than 50 million of Iran's population of approximately 85 million have received two doses of coronavirus vaccine.
Travelers wait in line to verify their COVID-19 vaccination status as they check-in for a flight to Sydney, Australia on Qantas Airways Ltd inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Nov 1, 2021 in Los Angeles, California, as Australia's international border reopens almost 600 days after a pandemic closure began.
(PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP)
Australia
Australia's states of New South Wales and Victoria, the two major entry ports of the country, further eased quarantine rules for international travellers despite the increasing infections of COVID-19.
From Dec 21, fully vaccinated international travellers and flight crew arriving in Sydney and Melbourne will no longer need a 72-hour quarantine. Instead, they will be required to get a PCR test within 24 hours after arrival and isolate until they receive a negative result, according to an announcement from the two states late Friday.
They also need to present a negative pre-departure test within three days of boarding their flight.
All international travellers arriving from overseas into the two states aged 18 and over who are not fully vaccinated must still go directly into 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said this announcement simplifies the process and makes sure Australia's two biggest cities have a consistent approach.
At the same time, NSW, the most populous state, is experiencing a continued sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. On Saturday, NSW recorded 2,482 new cases and one death out of 137,149 tests, another record-high daily increase since the pandemic outbreak early last year. A total of 206 people are in hospital and 26 in the ICU.
Victoria recorded 1,504 cases and seven deaths out of 88,083 tests. A total of 384 people are in hospital and 84 are in the ICU.
In this file photo taken on Nov 16, 2021, a
health worker inoculates a woman with a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine against the COVID-19 at the Karail slum in Banani, Dhaka. (SALAHUDDIN AHMED / AFP)
Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi government started administering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots on a trial basis Sunday.
The country's Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the program in Dhaka on Sunday, while a nurse Runu Veronica Costa, who had received the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country, received the first booster dose.
After inaugurating the program, Maleque told journalists that the drive will be extended throughout the country in phases.
He said frontliners and the elderly will be given priority for booster shots initially.
Senior health ministry officials, journalists and religious leaders also received their booster doses on the day.
Bangladesh launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive in January to contain the pandemic that has spread across the South Asian country.
Israel
Israel on Friday reported 45 new cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, raising the total Omicron cases in the country to 134, said the Israeli Ministry of Health
Israel on Friday reported 45 new cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, raising the total Omicron cases in the country to 134, said the Israeli Ministry of Health.
The ministry said that 86 of the infected are returning passengers from South Africa, Britain, France, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Italy, Namibia, Tanzania, Germany, Morocco, Spain, Serbia, Belgium, and Turkey.
It added that 28 others were infected in Israel through close contact with travellers returning from South Africa, the United States, France and Britain, while the remaining 20 were infected in Israel without being abroad nor in close contact with returning passengers.
In addition, 42 of the 134 infected are unvaccinated or recovered more than half a year ago.
Vietnam
Vietnam reported 15,895 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, including 15,883 locally transmitted and 12 imported.
According to the Ministry of Health, most of the community cases were recorded in southern localities, including 1,341 in Ca Mau province, 1,019 in Ho Chi Minh City, and 941 in Tay Ninh province. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi logged 1,244 COVID-19 cases on Saturday.
READ MORE: COVID-19 spike hinders Vietnam's reopening
The new infections brought the total tally to 1,524,368 with 29,351 deaths, said the ministry. Nationwide, a total of 1,097,163 COVID-19 patients have so far recovered, up 1,645 from Friday.
Some 137.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 60.8 million second shots, have been administered, according to the ministry.
Vietnam has gone through four coronavirus infection waves, with increasing scale and infectivity. As of Saturday, the Southeast Asian country has registered over 1.5 million locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since the start of the current wave in late April, according to the ministry.