A health worker administers Covishield vaccine for COVID-19 at a vaccination center in Hyderabad, India on July 15, 2022. (MAHESH KUMAR A. / AP)
SYDNEY / TOKYO / HANOI / SINGAPORE / SYDNEY / WELLINGTON / NEW DELHI / KUALA LUMPUR / SEOUL – India Friday recorded over 20,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 for the second straight day, officials said.
According to federal health ministry data released on Friday morning, 20,038 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,710,027 in the country.
With this, India's active caseload currently stands at 139,073.
The country also logged 47 related deaths during this period, which has pushed the overall death toll to 525,604 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate stands at 4.44 percent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.30 percent, the ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, the Indian government on Friday began a 75-day special drive to administer COVID-19 booster doses to all adults aged above 18 years.
According to an official source, less than 1 percent of the target population of 770 million in the age group of 18-59 years have been administered the precaution dose.
Those aged 60 years and above were already getting these doses free of cost across the country.
"All adults will be able to get free booster doses of the Coronavirus vaccine at government centers under a special drive for over 75 days from July 15," the country's Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur announced on Wednesday.
The drive is being held as a part of the federal government's celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of India's Independence.
Health care workers administer COVID-19 tests at a drive-through clinic in Sydney on Dec 31, 2021. (BIANCA DE MARCHI / AAP IMAGE VIA AP)
Australia
The government of the Australian state of New South Wales announced it would provide free rapid antigen tests (RATs) for vulnerable residents, responding to the ending of a federal government scheme.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Friday the state government would ensure that no one would be left behind and support would continue throughout the winter.
Under the program, concession card holders, including pensioners, disabled persons, and culturally diverse groups would have access to 10 rapid tests until the end of October.
"The NSW government has already been distributing free RATs to vulnerable communities, and we have the capacity to extend this to those still needing them through the federal government's program," said NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors Mark Coure.
In January of this year the Australian government launched a program that gave access to 10 free rapid tests for concession card holders.
The scheme would not be extended beyond its July end date. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler defended the decision as "about the right time" for the program to end.
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Sydney Energy Forum on July 12, 2022, in Sydney. (BROOK MITCHELL / POOL / AFP)
In another development, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a snap meeting of federal and state leaders next week as he faces pressure to reinstate compensation pay for casual workers forced to isolate due to COVID-19 amid a fresh wave of infections.
"I've said to the (state leaders) that we'll meet from time to time. And it's appropriate that we meet on Monday. We're not meeting today because I'm here," Albanese told reporters in Fiji on Friday after a meeting of the Pacific leaders.
Albanese, in power for just under two months, said an end date of June 30 for quarantine pay of up to A$750 ($500) for casual workers was put in place by the previous Liberal-National coalition government.
"We inherited these decisions, but we also inherited a trillion dollars of debt. And that's something that was not our responsibility," Albanese said. Several state leaders have urged Albanese to bring back the income support.
As of the end of last year, the government had spent almost A$13 billion ($8.8 billion) on 2.4 million employees, according to official data, while total federal support since the pandemic began is estimated to be over A$300 billion.
Since the pandemic began, Australia has reported about 8.7 million cases and 10,549 deaths, far lower than many countries. Just over 4,500 are in hospitals due to COVID-19.
A woman wearing a face mask checks out her mobile phone as she walks across an intersection of the famed Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on June 3, 2022. (HIRO KOMAE / AP)
Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that "maximum caution" is necessary amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Japan.
The prime minister's remarks were made as the government confirmed 97,788 new infections nationwide on Thursday.
The government's COVID-19 panel of experts warned Thursday that the nation's capital may see an explosive increase in infections that has never been experienced before.
They said if the pace of transmission continues at the current rate, the daily tally will exceed 23,000 after a week, surpassing the peak of the sixth wave. The number could top the 53,000-mark after two weeks, they said.
Tokyo reported 16,662 new cases on Thursday.
They raised Tokyo's COVID-19 alert level to the highest on the four-tier system. It's the first time since April that the alert level has been raised to the highest level.
Kishida said the government will accelerate the vaccination drive, with about 8 million health care and nursing care workers targeted for fourth shots.
In another development, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have sought approval from Japan's health ministry for use of their COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged six months to four years, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.
The majority of COVID-19 vaccinations in Japan have used the Pfizer vaccine, authorized by regulators for children aged five to 11 in January.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 4,098 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Thursday, bringing the national total to 4,608,768, according to the health ministry.
There are five new imported cases and 4,093 local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Eight new deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 35,836.
New Zealand
New Zealand recorded 10,470 new community cases of COVID-19 and 16 more deaths from the pandemic, the Ministry of Health said on Friday.
In addition, 333 COVID-19 cases have recently traveled overseas, it said.
Currently, 773 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 14 in intensive care units or high dependency units.
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 11,772 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total tally to 1,569,420.
Of the new cases, 10,992 were local transmissions and 780 were imported cases. Among the local cases, 986 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 10,006 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Four deaths were reported due to COVID-19 infection, pushing the death toll to 1,444, the ministry said.
South Korea
South Korea reported 38,882 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 18,680,142, the health authorities said Friday.
The daily caseload was slightly down from 39,196 in the previous day, but it doubled from 19,308 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 29,863.
Sixteen more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 24,712. The total fatality rate was 0.13 percent.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 932 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, down by 69 from Wednesday, according to its health ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 10,758,189. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Thursday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,090.
On Thursday, there were a total of 36 severe cases in need of assisted breathing recorded in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.