In this photo dated June 4, 2014, waves break on the coastline in Tamakautoga, Niue. (NICK PERRY / AP)
SUVA / HANOI / SINGAPORE / BISHKEK / NEW DELHI / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / WELLINGTON / CANBERRA / ISLAMABAD / SEOUL – New Zealand Defense Force said on Wednesday it had flown a team of civilian doctors, nurses and defence force personnel along with personal protective gear to tiny pacific island Niue to help with the country's COVID-19 outbreak.
Niue, a self governing state that is in free association with New Zealand, had kept COVID out of the community having largely closed its borders in the early days of the pandemic.
However, following its first quarantine-free flight on June 27 a number of passengers tested positive for COVID-19.
The defense force said in a statement it had also taken a generator on the flight as Niue had been dealing with power interruptions.
"As a South West Pacific nation, it is an important role for New Zealand’s Defence Force to enable this important support to our neighbours," said Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour, Commander of the Joint Forces New Zealand.
In a separate statement the New Zealand government said the decision to send the team followed a request for help from the Niuean government.
Niue, which has a population of roughly 1,600 people, is highly vaccinated. Around 99 percent of those over the age of five are double vaccinated and 93 percent of those over the age of 18 are boosted, according to the New Zealand government.
Staff check a client at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan 8, 2022. (MARK BAKER / AP)
Australia
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has thrown his support behind calls for medical regulators to approve a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose for the general population.
Albanese recently said it was a question of "when, rather than whether" more Australians will be allowed to receive a fourth dose.
Currently, Australians aged 65 and above and those who are immunocompromised are eligible for a second booster shot.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) was expected to meet to consider expanding eligibility amid calls to do so.
Albanese told Nine Entertainment radio he has asked the chief medical officer and the Department of Health officials to consider fourth doses and antiviral treatments for COVID-19.
Australia on Wednesday morning reported more than 35,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 30 deaths.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of 8,291,349 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 10,086 deaths, and approximately 268,697 active cases, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health.
In this file photo taken on Aug 9, 2021, police officers keep watch at a security picket outside a vaccination center in Suva amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in Fiji. (LEON LORD / AFP)
Fiji
Fiji on Tuesday stressed the importance of bringing back many of COVID-19 safety measures as the island nation has reported more cases recently.
Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong said that it is important for Fiji's community and workplace leaders to bring back many of COVID-19 safety measures that their community and organization have learned during the acute outbreak, reported Fiji Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
Fiji's Ministry of Health is liaising with workplaces and heads of communities and villages across the country to ensure relevant COVID-19 safety measures are mandated.
They are receiving reports of an increase in COVID-19 cases recorded from workplaces in Fiji, and more emphasis is being placed on eligible Fijians to get their booster doses, he said.
Fiji has recorded 181 new cases of COVID-19 since last Friday, bringing the total number to more than 65,000 since March 2020 when Fiji recorded its first confirmed case.
Of the new cases, 116 cases were reported in the central part of the country, 43 cases in the west, 19 cases in the north and three cases in the east.
Fiji, a South Pacific island nation with a population of around 900,000, has recorded 866 COVID-19-related deaths since March 2020.
In addition, Fiji has also reported 912 COVID-19 patients who died from serious medical conditions unrelated to the virus.
A girl walks past a poster at a vaccination centre in New Delhi on April 10, 2022, after government announced the paid precaution dose against the coronavirus to be available for everyone above 18 years of age at private vaccination centers. (MONEY SHARMA / AFP)
India
India reported as many as 16,159 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,547,809, showed the data released by the country's federal health ministry on Wednesday.
After over two years of transmissions in India, COVID-19 seems to be playing hide-and-seek in the South Asian country, if the trend of new cases recorded per day in recent weeks is any indication.
Notably, India has been one of the worst COVID-19 sufferers across the globe, as more than 525,000 people have died and over 43.5 million cases have been registered by far.
The past few weeks have witnessed an intermittent rise and fall in the number of active cases and new cases per day.
In the last week of May, the total number of active cases across the country had gone down to below-15,000 mark, while it crossed the 100,000-mark on the last day of June. As on Tuesday, active caseload stood at 114,475.
In mid-April, the aggregate of active cases stood at around 10,000. During 78 days preceding April 13, the number of active cases had witnessed a consistent decline.
The number of active cases has been on the rise over the past weeks, especially from the beginning of June.
A similar trend has been witnessed in the number of new cases registered per day in the country. In the first week of April, the number of new cases had gone down to below-1,000 level, and it remained in the range of 2,500 and 3,500 during most of May.
Though concerns have been raised by health authorities about the sudden surge in active cases and new cases per day, no new restrictions have been announced in recent weeks.
The Indian government began the ambitious vaccination drive against COVID-19 from Jan 16 last year. So far, more than 1.98 billion doses have been administered, with nearly 92 percent of adults taking both doses, and almost 97 percent of adults taking at least one dose.
Kyrgyzstan
Regular flights between China and Kyrgyzstan were resumed Tuesday with the launch of Urumqi-Bishkek-Urumqi flights, the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan said.
A plane from Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, landed at the Manas International Airport on Tuesday, at 1:48 pm local time (0748 GMT). The return flight departed from Bishkek at 3:45 pm.
The flights were the first after the suspension of direct flights between China and Kyrgyzstan due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the embassy said.
Flights on the Urumqi-Bishkek-Urumqi route are operated by China Southern Airlines and the schedule will be once in two weeks.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 2,932 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 4,578,741, according to the Health Ministry.
There are two new imported cases, with 2,930 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Three new deaths were reported, pushing the death toll to 35,787.
New Zealand
New Zealand recorded 10,290 new community cases of COVID-19 and 12 more deaths, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Wednesday.
The sharp increase in the number of new cases was due to the impact of low temperature across the country.
In addition, 47 new cases of COVID-19 were detected at the border.
The Omicron subvariant BA.2.75 has been detected in New Zealand for the first time. Analysis of whole genome sequencing has confirmed two cases in New Zealand with BA.2.75. Before testing positive for COVID-19, both cases had recently traveled to India, where this subvariant has been detected, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
BA.2.75 is a recently identified second generation subvariant of BA.2, the dominant variant circulating in New Zealand at this stage.
Pakistan
Pakistan reported 805 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, the country's ministry of health said on Wednesday.
The tally of infected people increased to 1,540,080 after adding the new cases, according to the data released by the ministry.
A total of 30,404 people died from COVID-19 in Pakistan, with one more death recorded on Tuesday, showed the ministry's statistics.
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 12,784 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 1,485,964.
Of the new cases, 839 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 11,945 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 802 were local transmissions and 37 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 11,446 local transmissions and 499 imported cases.
Two new deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 1,421, the ministry said.
South Korea
South Korea reported 19,371 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 18,433,359, the health authorities said Wednesday.
The daily caseload was up from 18,147 the previous day and far higher than 10,455 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 11,950.
Seven more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 24,583. The total fatality rate was 0.13 percent.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 989 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up 304 from Monday, according to the Ministry of Health.
The new infections brought the total tally to 10,750,313 with 43,089 deaths.