People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk across a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo on July 29, 2022. (SHUJI KAJIYAMA / AP)
TOKYO / ISLAMABAD / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / MANILA / SINGAPORE / HANOI / YANGON – The Japanese government will run a new domestic tourism subsidy program from Oct 11 to late December in a bid to revitalize its tourism industry hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito said on Monday.
The National Travel Discount program will offer financial assistance of up to 11,000 yen ($76) in discounts and coupons per traveler per day, which can be used for meals, shopping and accommodation expenses, Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito told a press conference
The National Travel Discount program will offer financial assistance of up to 11,000 yen ($76) in discounts and coupons per traveler per day, which can be used for meals, shopping and accommodation expenses, Saito told a press conference.
The nationwide program comes in the wake of the "Go To Travel" subsidy program and builds on similar existing travel discount schemes operating at the prefectural level.
The "Go To Travel" campaign launched in July 2020 had benefited a total of 87.81 million people, by effectively covering half of a traveler's expenses.
The new subsidy program was initially planned to start in early July but was delayed due to the seventh wave of COVID-19 infections in Japan.
READ MORE: Report: Japan weighs relaxing COVID-19 border rules
The Japanese government will also start a discount program on Oct 11 to support entertainment and other events for people who have received at least three COVID-19 vaccine doses or can present proof of a negative COVID-19 test, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Under the scheme, a 20-percent discount of up to 2,000 yen ($14) will be offered to a visitor for events scheduled to be held by the end of January next year at theme parks and sports and music venues.
Brunei
Brunei logged a daily average of 210 new COVID-19 cases in the past week compared to 215 cases per day the week before, the health ministry said on Monday.
According to the health ministry's weekly briefing, 37,733 antigen rapid test (ART) results were uploaded to the government platform within one week, with 3.2 percent of them being positive.
As of Sept 25, 78.4 percent of Brunei's population have received three doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while 10.4 percent have taken the fourth dose.
The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and China's Sinopharm are administered in the Southeast Asian country.
Pakistan
Pakistan recorded 55 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the country's ministry of health said on Monday.
The overall tally of infected people climbed to 1,572,376 after adding the fresh cases, according to the data released by the ministry.
A total of 30,612 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, with no new deaths reported over the last 24 hours, according to the ministry.
The Philippines
The Philippines reported 2,001 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,940,201.
READ MORE: Singapore relaxes tight COVID-19 social curbs from Monday
The Department of Health said the number of active cases rose to 37,082, while 29 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, taking the death toll to 62,819.
The country, with a population of around 110 million, has fully vaccinated over 73 million people.
Singapore
Singapore reported 1,606 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total tally to 1,892,947.
Of the new cases, 147 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 1,459 through ARTs (antigen rapid test), according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 139 were local transmissions and eight were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 1,383 local transmissions and 76 imported cases, respectively.
Five deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 1,615, the ministry said.
A health worker takes sample from a man for COVID-19 test in Hanoi, Vietnam on Jan 6, 2022. (HAU DINH / AP)
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 1,432 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, up by 471 from Sunday, according to its ministry of health.
All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the health ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,473,733. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Monday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,146.
ALSO READ: COVID-19: Philippines sees 43% rise in deaths in 2021
Myanmar
Myanmar recorded 284 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total tally to 621,686, according to the Ministry of Health on Monday.
The death toll from COVID-19 in the country stood unchanged at 19,455 on Monday as no new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.