People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk on a street in Tokyo, Japan, Jan 27, 2021. (KOJI SASAHARA / AP)
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / ISLAMABAD / RIYADH / TASHKENT / HANOI / SINGAPORE / BANGKOK / NEW DELHI / ULAANBAATAR / RAMALLAH / MANILA / JAKARTA – Three new types of the UK coronavirus strain, previously not detected in Japan, were discovered in patients at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, according to a research group studying COVID-19 cases at the hospital.
None of the three patients infected with mutations of the UK strain had traveled abroad, meaning there is a high possibility that the variants are spreading in Japan, the group said in a statement on Friday.
The patients were hospitalized during the period of November through late-December, with two of the three experiencing severe symptoms.
The new UK strains had previously not been detected in Japan outside of airport quarantine areas, according to the research group. Various strains have previously been found in Japan including one discovered in four passengers arriving from Brazil earlier this month. A variant found in South Africa was also detected in Japan in late December.
Japan has witnessed a spike in new coronavirus cases since the start of this year, with new infection numbers stuck above 1,000 a day in the capital in recent weeks. A state of emergency covering 11 prefectures is set to remain in place until Feb 7.
Speaking at a briefing Friday, Hiroaki Takeuchi of the research group, urged that measures be taken to strengthen Japan’s borders to prevent the arrival of more new strains of the virus, national broadcaster NHK reported.
Iran
Iran will receive the first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 by Feb 4, with two more deliveries due by the end of next month, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the Iranian ambassador in Moscow.
An agreement has also been signed for production of the treatment in Iran, Kazem Jalali said, without providing further details.
Earlier this week, the government said it had signed a deal with Russia for 2 million doses of the Russian vaccine.
Indonesia
Indonesia reported 14,518 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, a record daily increase that brought its total number of cases to just over 1.06 million.
The country's COVID-19 taskforce also reported 210 deaths, lifting the death toll from the pandemic to 29,728.
The Philippines
The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Saturday 2,109 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 523,516.
The death toll climbed to 10,669 after 71 more deaths were added, the DOH said.
DOH data showed that 82 healthcare workers had succumbed to the disease as of Jan 29. It said that at least 14,360 medical workers, mostly nurses and physicians, had been infected.
India
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,733,131 on Saturday as 13,083 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, one of the lowest figures on record and down from more than 20,000 each day at the beginning of the month, federal health data showed.
The death toll rose to 154,147 after 137 additional fatalities were added since Friday morning, according to the data. A total of 10,409,160 people have been discharged from hospitals after medical treatment.
There are still 169,824 active cases in the country, the lowest figure in seven months.
So far, more than 3.3 million people, mainly health workers, have been vaccinated across the country.
New Zealand
New Zealand reported one new COVID-19 case that was detected in managed isolation facility, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Saturday.
No new cases of community transmission were reported, said the ministry.
The total number of active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand stood at 71 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country stood at 1,947.
Thailand
Thailand on Saturday reported 930 new COVID-19 cases and one death, bringing the country's infection tally to 17,953 and the death toll to 77 according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
Of the new cases, 916 were locally transmitted while the other 14 were imported, said CCSA's assistant spokeswoman Panprapa Yongtrakul.
A total of 11,505 people have recovered while 6,371 others are currently hospitalized, Panprapa said.
Thailand’s plan to produce the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine locally is on track to be ready to begin mass inoculations in June, with a capacity to make up to 18 million doses per month, a senior official said on Friday.
Thailand’s vaccine strategy revolves around production of AstraZeneca shots by local firm Siam Bioscience, owned by the Thai king’s vast business holdings.
Tests of the first batches are due to be completed by the end of May, the head of the National Vaccine Institute, Nakorn Premsri, told Reuters in an interview. “The industrial batch will come out by June,” Nakorn said.
Until June, Thailand will rely on imported vaccines.
People wearing face masks walk past a banner displaying precautions against the coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, Jan 29, 2021. The characters read "Mandatory mask wearing and Social distancing." (LEE JIN-MAN / AP)
South Korea
South Korea reported 458 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, down from 469 a day earlier, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s website.
Of the new cases, 423 were locally infected with 152 new cases in Seoul and 136 in Gyeonggi province.
The death toll went up 15 to 1,414. To date, the country has logged 77,850 infections.
The nation may extend social distancing restrictions tomorrow as new infections rebounded this week and stayed above 400.
ALSO READ: Malaysia sees highest daily spike in virus cases, tally tops 200,000
Brunei
Brunei is mulling various vaccines, including those from the US, Europe and China to be used in the country, Health Minister Haji Mohd Isham said Friday.
"We have informed the public that the Ministry of Health will get five percent of AstraZeneca through bilateral arrangement and another 15 percent from the COVAX facility, totaling 20 percent," the minister was quoted as saying by local daily the Borneo Bulletin.
According to the minister, other vaccines that are being assessed including those developed by Pfizer, Moderna, SinoPharma and Sinovac.
Pakistan
There has been a sharp increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate in various areas of Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi in Sindh province in the ongoing week, the provincial health ministry said on Friday.
In three major vicinities of the metropolitan, the COVID-19 positivity rate surged to 16 percent, 15 percent and 9 percent from the previous 2 percent, 4 percent and 2 percent, respectively, the ministry said.
Violations of social distancing rules caused the sharp rise in positivity rate, the ministry said, adding that it could continue to rise if people fail to adhere to anti-virus rules.
According to the data released by the health ministry on Friday, 541,031 people have tested positive for COVID-19 with Sindh being the worst-hit area,where 244,340 had been infected.
According to the data, a total of 11,560 people have died while 496,745 have recovered.
READ MORE: India says COVID-19 contained, but vaccine campaign stutters
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has postponed the end of a ban on travel for its citizens and the reopening of its ports from March 31 to May 17, the Saudi state news agency SPA said on Friday, citing an interior ministry official.
The Ministry of Interior said the decision was taken due to delayed deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines.
On the same day, the Health Ministry reported 267 new coronavirus cases, bringing the cumulative caseload to 367,543. The death toll rose by two to 6,368.
Turkey
Turkey reported on Friday 6,912 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its total number of confirmed cases to 2,464,030.
The death toll rose by 131 to 25,736 while the total recoveries climbed to 2,348,309, according to the Health Ministry.
According to the ministry's data, nearly 1.8 million Turkish citizens have been vaccinated so far.
Iraq
The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported Friday 945 new COVID-19 cases and warned of a return of tight restrictions to prevent a possible increase in infections.
The ministry said in a statement that there had been a slight increase in infections during the past two weeks, adding that "this may be the beginning of a new wave of the pandemic that may be worse than the previous one".
"We warn against a return to the increase in infections and the accompanying increase in deaths, which may force health authorities to take more restrictive measures, such as partial curfew and closing crowded facilities," reads the statement.
In a separate statement, the ministry said the new cases took the overall tally to 618,147. Meanwhile, the death toll rose by 12 to 13,036, it said.
Israel
Israel's Ministry of Health reported on Friday 9,177 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 633,991.
The death toll reached 4,700 after 88 additional fatalities were added.
The number of active cases fell to 71,042 while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 1,178 to 1,200, out of a total of 1,774 patients in hospitals.
More than 2.96 million have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the ministry.
A health worker takes swab samples of a security officer for COVID-19 testing at the venue of Vietnam's Communist Party congress in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan 29, 2021. (HAU DINH / AP)
Vietnam
Vietnam’s health regulator authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine for residents’ use, the first COVID-19 injection approved in the country, the government website reports, citing Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.
Nguyen said AstraZeneca pledged to supply about 30 million doses this year and the vaccine is expected to be available this quarter. Vietnam will continue to talk with Pfizer, Moderna and some other producers for more vaccines for the country.
Separately, the nation reported 34 new coronavirus cases tied to an outbreak in two northern provinces, the first domestic cases since Dec 1, as officials expressed confidence the government will contain the outbreak soon.
The northern province of Hai Duong reported 32 new infections while neighboring Quang Ninh province confirmed two, the health ministry said on its website Saturday.
The government expects to bring the contagion under control before the Lunar New Year holiday, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Friday, citing Deputy Premier Vu Duc Dam, head of the country’s anti-virus task force.
Meanwhile, state media reported on Saturday a key ruling Communist Party meeting would end on Monday, a day earlier than planned. The reports did not state why.
Qatar
The Qatari health ministry announced 341 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 150,621.
It said that another 142 patients have recovered, bringing the overall recoveries to 145,556.
The death toll remained at 248.
Lebanon
Lebanon has recorded 3,125 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 296,282, the Health Ministry reported Friday.
The death toll went up by 59 to 2,680, it said.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has again extended the suspension of all inbound, outbound and transit flights with eight countries until March 1 after new coronavirus variants were detected in some of those countries, the country's special anti-COVID-19 commission said Saturday.
Earlier this month, the country extended flight restrictions that were imposed in December covering Britain, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Australia, the Netherlands and South Africa until Feb 1.
The latest move adds Germany to the list of countries under the restrictions.
Uzbekistan has registered 78,602 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 621 deaths.
Singapore
Singapore said it will suspend reciprocal green lane arrangements with Germany, Malaysia and South Korea. Suspension will be for three months starting Feb 1. Travelers who have prior approval to enter the island state can still do so.
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 24 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, all imported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 59,449.
Another 33 patients have recovered, taking the total recoveries to 59,181, the ministry said.
There are currently 47 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Palestine
The first batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine arrive in Palestine within two days, a Palestinian diplomat announced on Friday.
The first batch of the vaccine is a donation from Russia, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Russian Federation Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Xinhua via telephone.
"The first batch will be 5,000 vaccines," Nofal said, adding that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will begin talks with Russia on purchasing 100,000 vaccines that will arrive in Palestine in February.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila announced that since March, the Health Ministry has recorded 178,001 COVID-19 cases in the Palestinian territories, including 2,001 deaths and 166,961 recoveries.
Mongolia
Mongolia registered 32 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,742, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) on Saturday.
The new cases were locally transmitted and detected in the country's capital Ulaanbaatar, the NCCD said in a statement.
Another 18 patients have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 1,321, it said.
The death toll remained at two.