This picture taken on May 17, 2022 and released from the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency on May 18 shows a doctor promoting pandemic control measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Pyongyang. (STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
SEOUL / TOKYO / HANOI / SINGAPORE / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / YANGON / KUALA LUMPUR / ISLAMABAD – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea reported more than 73,780 new fevered cases and no deaths in the past 24 hours through 0900 GMT on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.
As of Saturday, the cumulative number of fevered persons in the country reached 4.07 million, of whom more than 3.93 million have recovered, according to the KCNA, citing information from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters.
The rate of fever outbreaks nationwide has decreased by about 6 percent daily since May 15, indicating the country's anti-epidemic campaign is gaining ground, according to the KCNA.
The KCNA reported on May 12 that the Omicron subvariant BA.2 was detected after samples were collected from a group of patients in the capital Pyongyang on May 8, marking the first time that COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the country.
Brunei
Brunei reported 379 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the national tally to 150,058.
As of June 3, 70.9 percent of Brunei's population had received three doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Currently, 2,008 active cases are being treated and monitored in Brunei, where 147,827 recoveries from COVID-19 have been reported.
India
India has approved Hyderabad-based drugmaker Biological E's COVID-19 vaccine as the first mix-and-match booster dose in the country, the company said on Saturday.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave the nod for the Corbevax vaccine to be administerd as a booster shot to people age 18 years and over who have already received two doses of either AstraZeneca Plc's Covishield or Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,176,817 on Sunday, as 4,270 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 15 deaths from the pandemic registered across the country since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 524,692.
A man wearing a protective mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks along a pedestrian crossing on April 20, 2022, in Tokyo. (EUGENE HOSHIKO / AP)
Japan
Japan's government is considering resuming a national travel discount campaign as soon as late this month to help the tourism industry recover from a COVID-19 slump, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.
A revived "Go To Travel" campaign would likely serve as a core measure to stimulate consumer demand, the business daily reported, without citing sources. Japan is set to ease border controls to let foreign tourists in from July 10 as coronavirus infections ease.
The government will decide on the campaign soon, the Nikkei said, without specifying time.
Officials at the Japan Tourism Agency could not immediately be reached for comment outside business hours.
The campaign, rolled out in July 2020 just as COVID-19 was gaining strength, subsidised half of the travel expense, up to 20,000 yen ($150) a night, for each traveler.
The program helped boost tourism but was shelved five months later as the pandemic surged.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 1,591 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Saturday, bringing the national total to 4,513,631, according to the health ministry.
There are five new imported cases, with 1,586 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Five more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 35,686.
Myanmar
Myanmar reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally in the country to 613,381 on Saturday, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said the death toll from COVID-19 in the country remained unchanged at 19,434 as no new deaths were confirmed in the past 24 hours.
Pakistan
Pakistan reported 55 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total tally to 1,530,705, the country's ministry of health said on Sunday.
A total of 30,379 people died from COVID-19 in Pakistan, with no more deaths on Saturday, according to the ministry's statistics.
On Saturday, 14,084 tests for COVID-19 were conducted in Pakistan while the positivity rate stood at 0.39 percent.
Currently, there are 65 active cases who are in critical condition in the South Asian country.
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 2,879 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total tally to 1,316,728.
Of the new cases, 265 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 2,614 through antigen rapid test (ART) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 250 were local transmissions and 15 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 2,502 local transmissions and 112 imported cases.
Three more patients have died from complications due to COVID-19 infection, bringing the death toll to 1,392, the ministry said.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 881 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down 158 from Friday, the Ministry of Health said.
All the new infections were domestically transmitted in 36 provinces and cities.
The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the pandemic hotspot with 218 new cases recorded on Saturday, followed by the northern Yen Bai province with 72 cases and the central Nghe An province with 49 cases.
The infections brought the total tally to 10,724,554 with 43,080 deaths.