A healthcare worker administers a shot of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to a man at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara (Sikh temple) in Dubai on Feb 28, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
JAKARTA / DHAKA – The United Arab Emirates has overtaken Seychelles to become the world’s most vaccinated nation, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
The Persian Gulf nation has so far administered 15.5 million doses, enough to cover 72.1 percent of its mostly expatriate population of 10 million based on a two-dose regimen. The Seychelles has administered enough doses to cover 71.7 percent of its population of just under 100,000.
Cases in the UAE have remained elevated, though. Last week, the US raised its travel warning for the country to its highest level, citing a “very high level” of coronavirus. Saudi Arabia has temporarily prohibited travel and the UAE has been on a “red list” for travel to the UK since January.
Daily infections have hovered at around 2,000 since March from a peak of about 4,000 in February. The UAE, though, tests more people per capita than most nations and has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world.
South Korea
A senior South Korean official warned on Sunday that COVID-19 is spreading at “menacing” speed, with the delta variant now moving at a faster rate. The country will require everyone, including those who have been vaccinated, to wear masks in Seoul and its metropolitan area, where virus cases have spiked, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
India
India’s vaccination drive has covered 350 million people so far, including those who have received only one shot. The nation of 1.3 billion has administered the first dose to 99 million in the 18-to-44 age group, while 2.71 million have received both jabs, the government said. The country reported 955 deaths in the last 24 hours, with the total number of fatalities climbing to 402,005.
Indonesia
Indonesia has imposed emergency community activity restrictions, locally known as PPKM, in Java and Bali on July 3-20 to curb the country's COVID-19 outbreak after the previous policy of micro PPKM proved ineffective.
The number of COVID-19 cases kept increasing in the country at an alarming rate.
The Health Ministry said on Saturday that Indonesia recorded 27,913 newly-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest daily spike, bringing the total tally to 2,256,851, since the first case was detected in March 2020.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Thursday that the policy is crucially important for the safety of the Indonesian nation and people amid the surge in COVID-19 cases. The current situation requires more decisive measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Japan
Tokyo Olympics organizers are leaning toward barring spectators from events held in large venues such as soccer and track and field, Nikkei reported.
The organizing committee is considering the move if the Japanese government extends a set of quasi-emergency measures in place to combat Covid-19, Nikkei reported Sunday, without saying where it got the information.
The government is planning to extend the quasi-emergency beyond its current expiry date of July 11 in the Greater Tokyo area, the Yomiuri newspaper said separately on Sunday, and could keep it in place for up to one month more. The decision will be made on July 8, while the Games start on July 23.
Spectators may be barred from the opening and closing ceremonies and events in venues with a capacity of 20,000 or more in the Greater Tokyo area, Nikkei said. Organizers could extend the move to include events taking place at night.
ALSO READ: Tokyo sees most COVID-19 cases since May
Thailand
The delta variant is surging rapidly across Bangkok and now accounts for 70 percent of new infections in the Thai capital, according to a study by Chulalongkorn University’s Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology. The variant is highly contagious and will likely lead to more infections, Yong Poovorawan, the center’s director, said in a Facebook post. On Sunday, Thailand reported 5,916 new infections and a further 44 deaths, with the third wave of the outbreak showing no sign yet of easing after three months.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported another 6,658 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 772,607, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
Another 107 more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 5,434.
More than half of the new cases were reported in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and the adjacent state of Selangor, Malaysia's economic heartland, where a number of areas are placed under the more restrictive movement control measures for 14 days from Saturday as cases continue to climb.
Among the measures are a nightly curfew from 8:00 pm local time daily, besides roadblocks being placed to control travel from the areas under restrictions.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry has registered 1,272 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the number of patients infected with the disease to 124,757 in the country.
The pandemic has so far claimed 5,199 lives in Afghanistan, including 92 deaths in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
A total of 935 patients have recovered over the period, according to the statement.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 6,214 new COVID-19 cases and 134 new deaths on Saturday, taking the tally to 936,256 and death toll to 14,912, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The official data showed that 22,687 samples were tested in the last 24 hours as of 8:00 a.m. local time across Bangladesh.
The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 829,199, including 3,777 new recoveries on Saturday, said the DGHS.
According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is 1.59 percent and the current recovery rate is 88.57 percent.
Myanmar
The number of COVID-19 infections rose to 163,087 with 1,877 new cases in Myanmar on Saturday, according to a statement from the Health and Sports Ministry.
The country reported 20 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 3,384, the statement said.
A total of 611 more patients have been discharged from hospitals, raising the number of recoveries to 138,026 so far.
Due to the increasing COVID-19 infections, the ministry has imposed a stay-at-home order in 26 towns across the country after adding three more towns to the list on Saturday.
READ MORE: Delta variant sweeps Asia, leads to curbs amid tepid vaccination
New Zealand
New Zealand reported seven new cases of COVID-19 in two days, all recent returnees in managed isolation facilities, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Sunday.
There was no case in the wider New Zealand community, said the ministry.
The number of active cases in New Zealand is 32, and the total number of confirmed cases reached 2,395, it said.
The total number of tests processed by New Zealand laboratories to date reached 2,314,030, said the ministry.
Regarding New Zealand's travel bubble with Australia, the travel pause for South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Victoria will be lifted at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, while the that for Western Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Queensland remained in place and will be reviewed on Tuesday, said the ministry.