Pedestrians wait to cross the street in Shibuya district of Tokyo on Dec 11, 2021. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)
TOKYO / BAGHDAD / KATHMANDU – Japan's Kyoto and Fukuoka prefectures detected new infections involving the Omicron coronavirus variant, including cases of possible community transmission, a government representative and local media said on Saturday.
Kyoto prefecture in western Japan found four new infections of the Omicron coronavirus variant, including three cases of suspected community transmission as their infection routes were unclear, Kyodo news agency reported.
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Southwestern Fukuoka prefecture confirmed one Omicron case that was a possible community transmission, its governor Seitaro Hattori told a news conference.
Bhutan
Bhutan has started giving COVID-19 booster shots to senior citizens and priority groups as the Himalayan kingdom tries to stave off the Omicron variant, health ministry officials said on Friday.
Those aged 65 and older, overseas travellers, health workers, sufferers from chronic ailments and all adults living in "high risk" areas are eligible, the officials said.
"Bhutan becomes the first country in the South Asian region to administer booster doses," public service broadcaster BBS said in a report.
Officials said Bhutan planned to inoculate more than 228,000 people in a week.
"As we did for the second dose, mix and match is recommended even for the booster, given its higher efficacy," Sonam Wangchuk, an official of the Royal Centre for Disease Control (RCDC), was quoted as saying in the Kuensel newspaper.
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Bhutan has not reported any cases of Omicron variant so far and the RCDC regularly sequences samples from across the country to watch for any signs of an "incursion", officials said.
The nation of about 750,000 people says it has vaccinated more than 93% of people older than 12 with a second vaccine dose.
Bhutan has been able to slow the spread of the virus through measures such as early screening and monitoring at entry points, testing and sealing its borders.
It has announced just three deaths linked to COVID-19 and 2,659 infections since the pandemic started.
Iraq
The Iraqi Ministry of Health on Friday urged citizens to adhere to the health precautionary measures during New Year celebrations amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
The ministry called on citizens in a statement to follow the health precautionary measures, especially wearing masks, maintaining physical distance as well as getting vaccinated.
A separate statement by the ministry said that it reported 322 new COVID-19 cases, raising the nationwide caseload to 2,092,156. It also reported seven new deaths, bringing the death toll from the virus to 24,115.
Iraq has been pushing forward its vaccination drive since January after the approval for the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine and other COVID-19 vaccines.