A woman wearing a face mask checks out her mobile phone as she walks across an intersection of the famed Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on June 3, 2022. (HIRO KOMAE / AP)
TOKYO / MANILA / HANOI / SINGAPORE – The Tokyo Metropolitan government on Thursday raised its COVID-19 alert to the second-highest level on its four-tier scale.
The alert was set at the second-highest level for the first time since Oct 6.
At the coronavirus monitoring meeting of the metropolitan government on Thursday, an expert warned that the capital "can be considered to be entering the eighth wave of infections."
As of Thursday, the capital's seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases stands at 8,276, up 24.7 percent from a week before, with daily cases exceeding the 10,000 threshold the two previous days, the highest level in two months.
Based on an estimate presented at the meeting, the seven-day average would reach around 12,300 by the end of this month if new infections increase at the current pace.
The resurgence of the virus came after the Japanese government lifted its restrictions on individual passengers, spontaneous trips, and daily entry caps last month.
It also launched the National Travel Discount program, which provided subsidies of up to 11,000 yen ($79) per person for a maximum of seven nights.
As COVID-19 and influenza spread simultaneously, the metropolitan government pledged at the meeting to promote the capital's medical capacity to be able to treat up to 127,000 outpatients with fever each day.
A man shops for face masks in Divisoria, a local shopping district in Manila on May 17, 2022. (JAM STA ROSA / AFP)
Philippines
The Philippines reported 1,153 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 4,022,127.
The Department of Health (DOH) said the number of active cases dropped to 18,467, while another nine patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 64,441.
Metro Manila, the capital region with over 13 million people, tallied 308 new cases.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said all areas in the country are under low-risk classification, while hospital admission continues to be manageable.
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 2,088 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total tally to 2,148,794.
A total of 200 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 11 of them in intensive care units, according to statistics released by the country's Ministry of Health.
One new death from COVID-19 was reported on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 1,699.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 509 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, up seven from Wednesday's caseload, according to the Ministry of Health.
All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.
The new infections brought the total tally to 11,510,484. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Thursday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,167.