People use an escalator in a train station in Tokyo on Feb 2, 2021. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
TOKYO / KABUL / CANBERRA / NEW DELHI / JAKARTA / TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / NUR-SULTAN / BEIRUT / ULAN BATOR / YANGON / WELLINGTON / RAMALLAH / SINGAPORE / SEOUL / BANGKOK / ANKARA – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday said he will extend the state of emergency for Tokyo and other regions hard hit by COVID-19 by one month until March 7.
"The number of new cases is falling. I think that measures targeted at eating and drinking have been effective," the Japanese leader said in the parliament.
Daily COVID-19 infections have been on a downtrend of late, but healthcare officials warned that people should not let their guards down amid concerns about the increasing strain on hospitals and medical facilities.
The extended emergency period will be applicable to 10 prefectures including Osaka, Aichi and Fukuoka.
Tochigi Prefecture will not be subjected to the extension and will have the state of emergency lifted on Feb 7, as cases there have subsided markedly.
Following an expert panel approving the one-month extension, Japan's premiere announced the move in parliament, with the decision to be finalized later in the day by the government's expert coronavirus task force.
In terms of COVID-19 cases, the Tokyo metropolitan government reported 556 new infections Tuesday as of 3:00 pm local time.
ALSO READ: Israel says supplied first COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians
Afghanistan
Afghanistan on Tuesday reported 53 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases after health authorities conducted 1,888 tests within a day, bringing the number of total cases to 55,174, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.
Meanwhile, 75 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall number of recoveries to 47,798, while one death was reported, raising the death toll to 2,406, according to a ministry's statement.
Australia
Three quarters of Australians plan to have COVID-19 vaccination when the rollout begins, a survey has found.
A special edition of Newspoll published by The Australian on Tuesday found that 75 percent of Australians said that they would either "definitely" or "probably" get vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to 17 percent who said they would not. Eight percent of respondents were undecided.
Support for vaccines was strongest among Australians aged 65 and over while men were more likely to say they would get vaccinated than women.
The Australian government is planning to begin administering vaccines in late February with the aim to offer all Australians the opportunity to be vaccinated by October of this year.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 525 new COVID-19 cases and 12 new deaths on Tuesday, making the tally at 536,107 and death toll at 8,149, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The official data showed that 14,452 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.
The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 480,728 including 512 new recoveries on Tuesday, said the DGHS.
According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.52 percent and the current recovery rate is 89.67 percent.
Brunei
Brunei reported one more recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 172.
According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, no more confirmed COVID-19 cases were recorded, with the national tally unchanged at 180. There are five active cases still being treated at the National Isolation Center.
A total of 39 imported cases have been confirmed since the last local infection.
India
Health minister of the Indian capital city of Delhi Satyendra Jain Tuesday said the latest sero-survey carried out in Delhi shows around 56 percent of people have developed antibodies against COVID-19.
"In the fifth sero survey done in the national capital of Delhi, antibodies have been detected in 56.13 percent of population," Jain wrote on social media. "This was the largest survey being done by the Delhi government."
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,766,245 on Tuesday as 8,635 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.
According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 154,486 with 94 new deaths.
There are still 163,353 active cases, while 10,448,406 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.
The nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off last month and so far nearly 4 million people, mainly health workers, have been vaccinated across the country.
Indonesia
A total of 10 million doses of raw materials for COVID-19 vaccine from the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Indonesia's city of Tangerang on Tuesday, an official said.
"The government is trying hard efforts to tackle COVID-19, including through vaccination," the Health Ministry's Secretary General Oscar Primadi said.
With the arrival, there are 28 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesia, Primadi noted, adding that among them, 3 million doses were ready to use, and another 25 million doses arrived in the form of raw materials.
A total of 56 more overseas Indonesians have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total cases in this group to 3,062, according to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
All the new cases were reported in Brunei Darussalam, Maldives, Russia, and Hong Kong.
The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 10,379 within one day to 1,099,687, with the death toll adding by 304 to 30,581, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
According to the ministry, 12,848 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 896,530.
Iranian men wearing protective masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, walk past a mural painted on the outer walls of the former US embassy in the capital Tehran, on Dec 30, 2020. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Iran
Iranian health authorities announced on Monday the expansion of traffic restrictions implemented in cities on red and orange alert to cities on yellow alert, in order to avoid a new wave of COVID-19.
"To preserve the great achievements in the control of COVID-19, the traffic restrictions that were effective in controlling the disease have been extended from orange alert areas to yellow ones," the Iranian Deputy Minister of Health and Medical Education Alireza Raisi said, as quoted by official news agency IRNA.
The prohibition for private vehicles to enter a city on orange alert different than that of the vehicle's numberplate has therefore been expanded to cities on lower-risk yellow alert.
Raisi said there are currently in Iran 18 cities on orange alert, some 124 others on yellow alert, and 306 cities on blue alert, the lowest alert level in the COVID-19 governmental evaluation system.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Iran climbed to a six-week high with 6,820 new infections over the last 24 hours. The death toll rose by 72 overnight, reaching a total of 58,110, the Health Ministry reported.
Israel
Infections remain high in Israel and may even be rising despite a nationwide lockdown, the country’s coronavirus information center warned on Tuesday. At the same time, the percentage of people over the age of 60 among confirmed cases and among the seriously ill has declined, apparently due to the vaccination drive.
While 83 percent of the 60-plus age group has been inoculated, the vaccination program among that part of the population has mostly stalled, the center said. Israel is aiming for 95 percent vaccination rate among the age group, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.
Israel's Ministry of Health reported 8,399 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the tally in the country to 651,405.
The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 4,813 after 27 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 1,165 to 1,139, out of 1,807 hospitalized patients.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan began its coronavirus vaccination campaign Monday using Russian-made Sputnik V.
Two deputy health ministers Erlan Kiyasov and Azhar Giniyat were among the first to take the jab in a local hospital.
"If we create an immunity hurdle with at least above 50 percent of population vaccinated, we can finally return to a normal society without restrictions, without quarantines, without lockdowns," said Kiyasov, adding that he feels well after the injection.
At the first stage, medical workers, law enforcement officers and military personnel will receive vaccinations.
Lebanon
Lebanon recorded on Monday 2,020 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections to 303,072, the Health Ministry reported.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus went up by 63 to 3,145.
Malaysia
The Malaysian government said on Tuesday that it will extend the Movement Control Order (MCO) in force over most of the country till Feb. 18 in order to control the spread of COVID-19.
Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who coordinates the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions in the Asian country, told a press briefing that among the reasons for the extension are the high rates of infection in detected case clusters.
Ismail also said interstate travel is still not allowed, as a number of case clusters linked to interstate travel had been detected, but more economic activities would be opened up.
Mongolia
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Mongolia has increased to 1,832, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Tuesday.
A total of 18 more locally transmitted cases were reported in the past 24 hours after 9,415 tests had been conducted across the country, the NCCD said in a statement.
The latest confirmed cases were detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, the center said.
Myanmar
Myanmar reported 209 more COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the tally in the country to 140,354, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.
A total of seven more COVID-19 deaths were reported on Monday, bringing the death toll to 3,138 in total, the release said.
New Zealand
New Zealand reports four cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation on Tuesday with no new cases in the community.
The new border cases came from Britain, India and the United States, according to the Ministry of Health.
One of these cases is classified as historical and deemed not infectious, said a ministry statement.
Pakistan
Pakistan reported 1,220 new infections, the lowest daily cases in almost three months, according to the latest government data.
The nation will start its vaccine drive tomorrow after securing supply from China’s SinoPharm. Pakistan’s second wave of infections is dwindling after a peak in hospitalizations and deaths last month. The outbreak has infected about 546,000 people and killed more than 11,500.
Russia’s Sputnik received approval for emergency use in Pakistan with local partner AGP Ltd, according to people familiar with the matter. It becomes the third approved vaccine in the South Asian nation, along with China’s Sinopharm and AstraZeneca Plc’s shot. Pakistan plans to start its vaccine campaign on Feb 3.
Palestine
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas extended Monday the state of emergency for 30 more days to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said in a press statement the extension will start from Tuesday.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye told the weekly meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in Ramallah that his government expects to receive 50,000 coronavirus vaccines within two weeks.
A worker wearing a protectice face mask and shield wipes the railing of the Helix bridge in Singapore on Jan 28, 2021. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 19 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 59,584.
All Of the new cases are imported cases.
On Tuesday, 30 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 59,301 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, the ministry said.
South Korea
South Korea reported 336 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 78,844.
The daily caseload was up from 305 the previous day, but it stayed below 400 for three straight days.
The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's health authorities on Tuesday said a 32-year-old doctor who was on the frontline of treating COVID-19 patients had died after battling the virus for over a week, making it the first death of a medical practitioner to be reported in the country.
Health officials told Xinhua that a team of medical experts was treating the young doctor but his situation deteriorated and the doctor was transferred to the intensive care unit at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in the south. However, he passed away on Tuesday morning.
Thailand
Thailand on Tuesday confirmed 836 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's total tally to 20,454, and two more fatalities, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
Of the new cases, 819 were domestic infections while 17 others were imported cases, CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin told a news briefing.
A city hall employee (left) takes part in a vaccination simulation in Manila on Jan 19, 2021. (TED ALJIBE / AFP)
The Philippines
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to keep the economy afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic as his administration raced to secure vaccines enough for most of its adult population.
“We are sinking deeper and deeper,” Duterte said in a live-streamed briefing on Monday night. “We are trying our very best to keep us afloat.” The Southeast Asian nation’s gross domestic product contracted by 9.5 percent in 2020, the most since 1946.
The Philippines, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the region, is negotiating for 178 million coronavirus vaccine doses, enough to inoculate 92 million people, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said in the same briefing.
The amount is more than the target of 148 million doses this year as it takes into account delays in order delivery, Dominguez said. The government has secured US$1.4 billion of funding from multilateral agencies, he said.
About 3 million doses will arrive in February and the bulk in the third and fourth quarters, said Carlito Galvez, who leads the vaccination program, adding the government has signed term sheets with five manufacturers to lock in supply for about 108 million doses.
The government will prioritize health care workers and uniformed personnel this quarter, and economic frontliners such as drivers and food services personnel in the second quarter.
The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Tuesday reported 1,583 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 528,853.
The death toll climbed to 10,874 after 67 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added 39 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 487,611.
The UAE
Dubai Health Authority added AstraZeneca’s shot to a list of its authorized COVID-19 vaccines. The city received its first shipment from India, DHA wrote in a tweet.
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) in the UAE has started administering China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to Emirati citizens and Dubai residents who are aged 60 and above.
The United Arab Emirates has also authorized Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines previously. Dubai had to reschedule the first dose of Pfizer’s shot due to a global supply crunch.
Dubai imposed a new set of restrictions Monday, requiring restaurants and cafes to close by 1 am. It also asked hotels to operate at 70 percent capacity, and indoor venues like cinemas to operate at 50 percent. The government also vowed tougher penalties for violators. Those measures are to remain in effect until the end of the month.
The UAE has seen a rise in coronavirus cases as it accelerates its vaccination drive. It has so far administered 3.4 million doses.
People walk in the Istiklal street during a two-day curfew to limit the spread of the COVID-19 disease in Istanbul, on Jan 31, 2021. (YASIN AKGUL / AFP)
Turkey
The number of Turks that have received the first dose of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine exceeded 2,137,000 on Monday, according to its health ministry.
After the country has rolled out mass vaccination, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the schools will gradually start face-to-face education as of March 1 in line with the number of COVID-19 cases.
The Turkish government plans to resume face-to-face education for schools in villages as of Feb. 15, the president said on Monday after the cabinet meeting.
Turkey on Monday reported 7,719 new COVID-19 cases, including 636 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,485,182, the health ministry announced.
READ MORE: Japan discovers new types of UK coronavirus strain
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 124 to 26,117, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,370,431 after 8,016 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.
The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stands at 4.9 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 1,615 in the country, said the ministry.
A total of 141,703 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests in Turkey reaching 29,773,125.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 32 new cases of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, including one imported and 31 locally transmitted cases, according to the Ministry of Health.
The new cases brought the total confirmed cases in the country to 1,882 with 35 deaths as of 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The imported case is a 43-year-old Russian man who recently entered the country from abroad and was quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry.