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)
ANKARA / SINGAPORE / HANOI / YANGON / SEOUL / TOKYO / WELLINGTON / RAMALLAH / GAZA / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD / SYDNEY / VIENTIANE – New data released by the Australian state of Queensland on Wednesday showed a concerning rise in COVID-19 cases among school-age children.
There were 1,905 cases reported in Queensland's children aged 5-17 on Wednesday, up from the previous day's 1,587.
Queensland's Chief Health Officer John Gerrard admitted there has been "a bump in cases in children" since schools reopened on Feb 7, but the bigger concern is the infection risks children may bring back home.
"We have not seen increases in hospitalizations among children … To me, the bigger concern when children get infected is their risk to their parents and grandparents, so that's why it is so critical that anyone coming into contact with children get their booster," he said.
The total number of the state's new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday is 6,596, a jump from 5,286 on Tuesday. More than 62 percent of the state's eligible population have taken their booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, while around 90 percent have received two doses.
India
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 42,723,558 on Wednesday with 30,615 new cases registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 514 more deaths have been reported from the pandemic since Tuesday morning, taking the total death toll to 509,872.
People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk on the street in snow on Feb 10, 2022, in Tokyo. (EUGENE HOSHIKO / AP)
Japan
Japan posted its deadliest day in the two-year COVID-19 pandemic, even as new infections from the Omicron-variant fueled wave declined.
Newly recorded fatalities rose to 236 on Tuesday, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK, exceeding the previous record of 216 on May 18 last year. Nearly 2,000 people have died of the coronavirus in Japan so far in February.
Tokyo recorded 16 new deaths on Tuesday, most of them 70-90 years old, separate data showed.
Meanwhile, new cases numbered 84,220 across Japan, continuing a decline from record infections posted earlier in the month as Omicron outbreaks spread.
Laos
The Lao government will begin a nationwide rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 6 to 11 in March in a bid to reopen schools safely, local media reported Wednesday.
Local daily Vientiane Times quoted Deputy Manager of the National Immunization Program Chansai Pathammavong as saying that a total of 957,000 children in this age group will be vaccinated, and it is hoped that the vaccination of young children will encourage other family members to get vaccinated.
The vaccination of all children aged 6-11 will begin in Lao capital Vientiane, while provinces that are ready may also go ahead with immunization, Chansai said.
Inoculations will be given to children only if their parents give their consent. The ministry will map out a vaccination plan while the education and sports ministry will inform parents about the importance of vaccination.
Malaysia
Malaysia recorded 22,133 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 3,083,683, according to the health ministry.
Among the newly reported cases are 80 imported cases and 22,053 local transmissions, showed data released on the ministry's website.
A further 31 deaths were reported from the pandemic, bringing the death toll to 32,180.
Myanmar
Myanmar reported 2,467 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 550,824, according to a release from the Ministry of Health.
It is the highest daily jump in more than two weeks since Feb 1, the ministry's data showed.
The total death toll in the country has risen to 19,314 after three more deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the past 24 hours, the release said.
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New Zealand
New Zealand recorded 1,160 new community cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Among the new community infections, 861 are in the largest city of Auckland, 73 in nearby Waikato, 32 in the Capital and Coast region, and 24 in Northland, according to the ministry.
n addition, 43 new cases were detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry.
There are 56 patients being treated in New Zealand hospitals currently with no one held in intensive care units.
New Zealand has reported a total of 23,127 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.
A Pakistani lab technician takes a sample with a swab to test for the coronavirus at the PIMS Hospital, in Islamabad, Pakistan on Jan 3, 2022. (RAHMAT GUL / AP)
Pakistan
Pakistan has recorded 2,465 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Wednesday.
With the new infections, the overall number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has risen to 1,491,423 in the Asian country, said the NCOC, a department leading the country's campaign against the pandemic.
Palestine
The Palestinian territories on Tuesday reported 3,648 new COVID-19 cases and 24 related deaths in the last 24 hours.
In a press statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 1,640 new cases were recorded in the coastal enclave Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas, with 1,128 new cases confirmed in the West Bank and 880 new cases in East Jerusalem.
Of the 24 deaths, 14 were logged in the besieged Gaza Strip, while the other 10 were registered in the West Bank, the ministry said, noting that the total COVID-19 death toll registered in the Palestinian territories has grown to 5,320 since March 2020.
A notice warning people not to gather in groups larger than five persons as part of restrictions to hald the spread of the coronavirus is displayed at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Jan 4, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore reported a record 19,179 local coronavirus infections on Tuesday.
The city-state has recorded 191,882 cases of the virus over the last 28 days, but 99.7 percent of them had no or mild symptoms.
Of Tuesday's local cases, 16,102 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ART). They are assessed to have no or mild symptoms and carry low risk.
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People wearing face masks pass by a poster reminding precautions against the coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea on Feb 16, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)
South Korea
South Korea on Wednesday reported a daily record of 90,443 new coronavirus cases, as numbers nearly doubled within a week amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The record count for Tuesday marked a drastic surge from 57,177 a day before and brought total infections in the country since the pandemic began to 1,552,851. Deaths remain comparatively low, though, with 39 fatalities on Tuesday and a total of 7,202 so far, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The country of 52 million population has largely been a COVID-19 mitigation success story, thanks mainly to widespread wearing of masks, social distancing and aggressive testing and tracing.
But authorities have shifted testing and tracing policy, in line with the less fatal Omicron variant's spread, toward self-monitoring and diagnosis and at-home treatment starting this month.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said the government was considering easing the current strict distancing curbs which include a 9 pm curfew for restaurants, cafes and bars, and a ban on gatherings of more than six vaccinated people.
More than 86 percent of South Koreans have been fully vaccinated and 58 percent have received a booster shot, KDCA data showed.
A man wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 walks along an alley in a commercial area in Istanbul, Turkey on Jan 18, 2022. (FRANCISCO SECO / AP)
Turkey
The COVID-19 related death toll in Turkey surged to 309 in the last 24 hours, the highest daily level in more than nine months, health ministry data showed on Tuesday, with new cases over that period at 94,730.
In late December, daily cases stood at about 20,000 but have since surged due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Daily infections peaked at 111,157 earlier this month.
The death toll reported on Tuesday was the highest since 356 on May 5. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged elderly citizens and those with chronic illnesses to exercise more caution after the data.
"The fact that infections due to Omicron are generally experienced lighter doesn't mean everything else is going fine. Let's first not forget that death figures are high," Koca said on Twitter.
A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam reported an all-time high of 31,814 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up 2,401 cases from Monday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The new infections, logged in 62 localities nationwide, included 31,787 domestically transmitted and 27 imported cases.
The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the locality with the highest number of infections on Tuesday with 3,972 cases, followed by northern Hai Duong province with 1,807 cases and northern Hai Phong city with 1,417 cases.
The infections brought the country's total tally to 2,572,087 with 39,122 deaths.