Children walk home with their guardians after school in Singapore on May 17, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
KABUL / DHAKA / NEW DELHI / JAKARTA / TEHRAN / BAGHDAD / TOKYO / KUWAIT CITY / VIENTIANE / BEIRUT / ULAN BATOR / WELLINGTON / ISLAMABAD / SINGAPORE / SEOUL / MANILA / ANKARA / HANOI – Singapore’s health minister said on Monday the city-state will allow access to other COVID-19 vaccines, besides the ones already approved, under a special access route (SAR) in order to enhance overall coverage.
The SAR can be used for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines that are on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency use listing, Ong Ye Kung said. Singapore has so far approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna .
Singapore is likely to ease restrictions in mid-June as it sees a new outbreak driven by variants coming under control, and will start vaccinating school children en masse next month as the city state races to be the first in the region to emerge from COVID-19 and reopen to the world.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday that if the number of community cases falls further, authorities should be able to ease curbs that had been put in place for four weeks after June 13. Bookings for students to get their shots will open June 1 with priority given to those sitting for national examinations, and inoculation for young adults aged 39 years old and younger will take place after that around mid-June.
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 25 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including 19 locally transmitted and six imported, bringing the total tally to 62,028.
Of the local cases, 13 were linked to previous cases.
Thailand
Thai capital Bangkok announced Monday to ease some COVID-19 bans on venues such as museums, parks and massage parlors despite continued surge in new infections.
Beginning Tuesday, venues such as museums, parks, beauty salons as well as spa and massage parlors could resume services, but schools, bars and karaoke lounges will remain closed, according to a statement released by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
The move was primarily meant to keep the city's economy running, provide conveniences for the people's daily life and retain the employment of people usually hired by those sectors, Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said at a press conference.
The decision came as the Southeast Asian country continued efforts to battle its worst wave of COVID-19 outbreak so far. The country confirmed 5,485 new cases and 19 fatalities Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 159,792 and the death toll to 1,031.
Indonesia
Indonesia's State Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said on Monday that Indonesia has received another batch of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine in bulk.
"Today, we again received the arrival of Sinovac vaccine to be used by the Indonesian people," Thohir, who is also executive chairman of the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and Economic Recovery, told a virtual press conference at the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang district, Banten province.
A total of 26.9 million Indonesian people have been administered COVID-19 vaccines, the minister noted, adding that the country is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with high vaccination rate.
However, the minister said Indonesia is still falling behind such big nations as China and the United States in terms of vaccination, hoping the country with more than 270 million people would continue to increase the vaccination rate.
According to him, the vaccination would help Indonesia stem the COVID-19 infections and accelerate efforts to recover the national economy.
South Korea
South Korea on Monday reported its first case of rare blood clotting linked to AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine.
The patient is a man in his 30s who got the shot on April 27 because of his job at a medical facility, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a briefing.
He felt a headache on May 9 and sought medical treatment before being hospitalized on May 12 as it continued and he suffered muscle cramps, Jeong said.
"His condition has improved since then and we understand there is no big problem though he still needs monitoring," she said.
Jeong said the symptoms are curable if detected early and treated properly.
Around 3.27 million people in South Korea have received at least one does of the AstraZeneca vaccine so far.
Reports from around the world have involved extremely rare clotting, mainly a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), seen in combination with low blood platelet levels, called thrombocytopenia.
South Korea reported 430 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 140,340.
The daily caseload was down from 480 in the previous day, marking the lowest in 63 days since March 29. The daily average caseload for the past week was 554.
The daily number of infections hovered in triple figures since Nov 8 last year due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.
Two more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,959. The total fatality rate stood at 1.40 percent.
ALSO READ: Singapore prepares to reopen as virus cases stabilize
Afghanistan
Afghanistan closed schools in 16 out of the country's 34 provinces from Saturday in the latest measure to further contain the spread of COVID-19, Afghan Public Health Ministry confirmed.
The measure, which will be reviewed in two weeks upon health assessment, applies to all universities and schools, both public and private in Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Parwan, Wardak, Panjshir, Balkh, Laghman, Badakhshan, Kapisa, Kunduz, Nimroz provinces, as well as Kabul province where the national capital Kabul city is located, the ministry said in a statement.
The country has recently seen a spike in COVID-19 cases. On Friday, the number of COVID-19 national tally soared to 70,107 after 977 new cases were recorded, the highest number of daily cases since the disease outbreak in February last year.
A man crosses Melbourne's usually busy Bourke Street Mall on May 28, 2021, as the city's residents returned to a seven day lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Australia
Australia's second most populous state of Victoria, the epicentre of the country's latest coronavirus hotspot, reported 11 new cases of community transmission on Monday, taking the current cluster to 51.
Victoria went into a strict seven-day lockdown on Friday after new COVID-19 infections in the state capital Melbourne ended its three-month run of zero community cases.
The state reported five new cases in the 24 hours to midnight. At a press conference in Melbourne on Monday, authorities announced a further six cases were recorded after the late night cut-off which will reflect in Tuesday's data.
The swelling numbers have raised questions over whether the lockdown will be extended beyond the seven days announced initially.
"The challenge ahead of us is a very, very significant one," Victorian acting Premier James Merlino told reporters. "We are seeing a small number of cases infecting a large number of contacts."
The situation was "incredibly serious" and the next few days will be critical, Merlino added.
"I want to be really clear with everyone that this outbreak may well get worse before it gets better."
Medical officials have said the latest COVID-19 variant, first detected in India, was likely to be more virulent than the original strains, taking just one day to infect another person compared with earlier strains which can take about five or six.
Qantas Airways Ltd is offering unlimited flights for a year among a pool of prizes for people who’ve had Covid-19 shots, the biggest incentive yet from an Australian business in a bid to accelerate the country’s sluggish vaccination rollout.
Giving details about the program on Monday, Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said 10 “mega prizes” would give families of four free travel with Qantas and its low-cost unit Jetstar for 12 months. Previously announced rewards for fully vaccinated passengers include air miles, flight vouchers and loyalty program status credits.
Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi government has extended the ongoing countrywide lockdown restrictions till June 6 to curb the recent spike of COVID-19 cases.
The Cabinet Division on Sunday issued a circular urging the authorities concerned to take necessary steps.
The Bangladeshi government on May 24 extended the countrywide lockdown to May 30, but eased restrictions on long-route public transport services, which were suspended since early last month.
India
India's COVID-19 tally surpassed the 28 million-mark on Monday, reaching 28,047,534 with 152,734 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, said the federal health ministry.
The daily spike of new cases has been falling over the past couple of weeks.
Besides, as many as 3,128 deaths since Sunday morning took the overall death toll to 329,100.
India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh on Sunday announced an ease of its COVID-19 lockdown measures, including allowing shops to open on weekdays.
However, no relaxation is allowed for cities and districts with over 600 cases. There are at least such 20 cities or districts in the state.
The Serum institute of India will raise production of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to about 90 million doses in June from about 65 million a month now, a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
Iran
Iran reported on Sunday 8,876 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 2,902,094.
The pandemic has so far claimed 79,939 lives in Iran, up by 198 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a written briefing published on its official website.
Iraq
Iraq's Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 3,474 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, raising the nationwide caseload to 1,197,082.
The ministry also confirmed 17 new deaths, bringing Iraq's death toll from the virus to 16,351, while the total recoveries in the country climbed by 4,365 to 1,111,466.
Commuters walk near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on May 31, 2021 after the announcement that the governemrnt extended a coronavirus emergency in Tokyo and other parts of the country until just a month before the Olympics. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)
Japan
Japan is considering requiring negative COVID-19 test results or vaccination records from fans attending the Tokyo Olympics, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Monday, as a new poll showed public opposition to the Games remained strong.
With the opening of the Games less than two months away, public confidence has been shaken by a fourth wave of coronavirus infections and a slow vaccination rollout.
Foreign spectators have already been banned and game organisers are expected to make a decision next month on whether Japanese fans will be able to attend and, if so, under what conditions.
In addition to other coronavirus measures like banning loud cheering and high-fives, the Yomiuri said the government was considering whether spectators should be required to show a negative test result taken within a week of attending an Olympic event.
The report was met with outrage among some social media users, with thousands of tweets criticising the country’s continued push to host the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic. The term “negative test certificate” was trending on Twitter in Japan, garnering over 8,000 tweets on Monday morning.
Kuwaitis enjoy a meal in a restaurant, adhering to the safety regulations, in the capital Kuwait City on May 23, 2021, on the first day after the government eased restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
Kuwait
Kuwait inaugurated on Sunday a drive-through vaccination center to speed up nationwide inoculation.
Located at Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway in the capital Kuwait City, it is the first drive-through vaccination center in Kuwait, representing the continuous efforts of the Ministry of Health to accelerate vaccination in the Arab country, the ministry spokesman Abdullah Al-Sanad said.
Equipped with clinics and emergency chambers, and built by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and other government institutions, it is also one of the largest vaccination centers in the country, Al-Sanad added.
The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Sunday 1,095 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 307,812.
The ministry also announced seven more fatalities, taking the death toll in Kuwait to 1,771, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,180 to 292,701.
Laos
Laos reported no new community case of COVID-19 on Monday, according to Lao Ministry of Health, leaving the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country at 1,912.
Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, told a press conference in the Lao capital Vientiane on Monday that the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Laos currently stands at 366.
Lebanon
Lebanon registered on Sunday 145 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily rise since the pandemic's outbreak last year.
This raised the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Lebanon to 540,277, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.
It added that Lebanon's death toll from the virus went up by five cases to 7,723.
Lebanon's number of daily coronavirus infections has been dropping over the past two weeks, thanks to the vaccination of around 10 percent of the population and the natural immunity acquired by people who already got infected with the virus.
Mongolia
Mongolia reported 927 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases in the country to 58,439, the country's health ministry said Monday.
The ministry said that the latest cases were local infections, and that 6,026 samples were tested in the past day across the country.
The daily test positivity rate of COVID-19 has been increasing significantly in recent days, the ministry said, urging the public to follow health guidelines and always wear masks in crowded areas.
New Zealand
New Zealand reported one new case of COVID-19 in managed isolation and no new cases in the community on Monday.
The newly imported case came from India and has remained in a managed isolation and quarantine facility in Auckland, according to the Ministry of Health.
Workers pull handcarts laden with goods along a street during a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Karachi on May 30, 2021. (RIZWAN TABASSUM / AFP)
Pakistan
Strict restrictive measures backed by vaccination have enabled a declining trend of the COVID-19 positivity ratio in Pakistan as the country reported a rate below 5 percent for the sixth day on Saturday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Sunday.
According to data released by the NCOC, a government agency leading the country's fight against the pandemic, Pakistan conducted 55,965 tests on Saturday nationwide, detecting 2,697 new coronavirus infections with a positivity rate of 4.82 percent.
The Philippines
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 6,684 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,230,301.
The death toll rose to 20,966 after 107 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.
The Philippines with a population of more than 110 million has tested over 12 million people since the outbreak in January 2020.
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Turkey
Turkey on Sunday confirmed 6,933 new COVID-19 cases, including 582 symptomatic patients, as the total infections in the country reached 5,242,911.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 134 to 47,405, while the total recoveries climbed to 5,105,042 after 10,763 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish Health Ministry.
The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stood at 3.1 percent and the number of seriously ill patients was 1,390 in the country, said the ministry.
Vietnam
Vietnam will suspend incoming international flights to its capital Hanoi from Tuesday as part of the country's effort to contain a coronavirus outbreak, the government said on Monday.
The announcement made no mention of domestic flights. Vietnam has been restricting the amount of inbound international flights since the start of the pandemic.
Vietnam reported 61 new COVID-19 cases from 6 p.m. local time Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 7,168, according to the Ministry of Health.
The new cases, which are all community transmissions, include 43 in the northern epidemic hotspot Bac Giang province, 15 in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and three in the northern Lang Son province.