A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
HANOI / ANKARA / DHAKA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / SINGAPORE / TOKYO / KUALA LUMPUR / SEOUL / NEW DELHI / WELLINGTON – The total COVID-19 cases in Vietnam surpassed the grim mark of 3 million on Thursday amid a new resurgence, showed data from the Ministry of Health.
The Southeast Asian country registered 69,128 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 3,041,506, with 39,884 deaths.
Vietnam has by far gone through four coronavirus waves of increasing scale, complication, and infectivity. It had succeeded in keeping the virus under control for over a year with aggressive contact tracing and quarantine procedures but was hit hard later by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, which triggered the fourth wave of infections in late April 2021.
In the ongoing wave, as many as 3,034,211 community cases have been registered as of Thursday, accounting for 99.8 percent of the total infections.
Putting the pandemic under general control and the fourth infection wave under relative control in October 2021, the government has been faced with the challenge to recover the country's paralyzed economy as soon as possible.
Vietnam officially changed its strategy in fighting COVID-19 in October last year, from "zero COVID-19" to safe and flexible adaptation to and effective control of the pandemic.
In recent days, the daily tally has continuously hit new records. Vietnamese health authorities earlier warned of a resurgence after the nine-day Lunar New Year festival, the country's biggest and longest holiday which ended on Feb 6 this year, during which gatherings and travels often peak in a year.
The country is working on a more ambitious plan: fully opening its border to international travelers like before the COVID-19 starting March 15, as part of the efforts to revive the tourism industry. As per its announcement, all restrictions on the frequency of both inbound and outbound flights were officially removed from Feb 15.
Starting November 2021, a number of Vietnamese localities has welcomed foreign tourists under a quarantine-free pilot program, marking the first time international tourism activities being resumed after 20 months.
A teacher holds online classes for her students at one of the schools that have been shut down amid a surge in coronavirus infections at New Eskaton area in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Feb 1, 2022. (MAHMUD HOSSIAN OPU / AP)
Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded 10 more deaths in connection with the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours as of 8:00 a.m. local time Thursday, taking the total fatalities to 29,005, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The official data showed that 1,516 more confirmed cases were recorded in Bangladesh Thursday, raising the total cases to 1,939,651.
Amid surging cases with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in capital Dhaka and elsewhere, the Bangladeshi government on Jan 13 imposed 11-point restrictions till Feb 7, then extended them up to Feb 21.
Bangladesh withdrew all COVID-19 restrictions from Feb 22 although mask mandates remained as usual.
Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant at Suri Seri Begawan Raja Pengiran Anak Damit Mosque in an effort to counter the spread of the COVID-19 in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei on March 17, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)
Brunei
Brunei registered a record 3,721 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total tally to 48,055, according to the health ministry.
With the new infections, Brunei, with a population of 420,000 people, has seen daily COVID-19 cases exceeding the 3,000-mark for three straight days since Tuesday.
The newly recorded cases were all local infections, the health ministry said.
India
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 42,894,345 on Friday as 13,166 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 302 deaths from the pandemic have been reported since Thursday morning, taking the total death toll to 513,226.
There are still 134,235 active COVID-19 cases in the country despite a fall of 14,124 active cases during the past 24 hours. This was the 32nd consecutive day when the number of active cases declined in the country.
People wearing face masks walk at Shibuya district in Tokyo on Jan 19, 2022, as Japan's government approved new coronavirus restrictions on a large part of the country, including the capital to battle record infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.
(BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP)
Japan
Japan said on Thursday international travelers showing proof of a COVID-19 vaccination with the Johnson & Johnson shot would be allowed in and be eligible for a shorter time in quarantine when border controls are eased next month.
The J&J shot, which has not been approved in Japan, will join a list of three other shots that have been approved by regulators as sufficient for non-residents to enter, after a nearly two-year ban on such travelers.
From March 1, authorities will raise the number of people allowed in to Japan to 5,000 a day, from 3,500, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters last week. The easing applies to students, workers, and other visa holders, but not to tourists for the time being.
The quarantine period will be reduced to three days in some conditions, from seven, and it will be waived entirely depending on the traveler's point of origin, and if they have had a booster shot.
Meanwhile, drugmaker Shionogi & Co Ltd has applied for approval to make and sell its oral COVID-19 treatment in Japan, the firm said on Friday.
Known as S-217622, the drug would become the country's third antiviral pill approved for coronavirus patients, following those developed by Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co.
In a statement, Shionogi said it was seeking conditional early approval of the drug after completing the Phase IIb part of a Phase II/III clinical trial in Japan and South Korea.
The study, involving 428 patients, reached its primary endpoint in reducing viral titres, but did not show a significant difference in reducing a measure of 12 COVID-19 symptoms.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 32,070 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Thursday in the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 3,337,227, according to the health ministry.
There are 209 new imported cases, with 31,861 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
A further 46 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 32,534.
New Zealand
New Zealand recorded 12,011 new community cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Nearly 8,000 cases of the infections were reported in the largest city Auckland. In addition, 19 new cases were detected at the New Zealand border.
The ministry also reported the deaths of five patients with COVID-19.
The country moved to the next phase of the government's Omicron response from Friday, said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
The changes will ease some of the pressure on the country's testing and contact tracing services over the next three to six weeks, while helping to ensure critical services and supply chains remain operational and the economy keeps moving, he said.
Close contacts will no longer be required to self-isolate. Only confirmed cases and household contacts of a confirmed case will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, Hipkins said.
Singapore
Singapore recorded 18,593 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total tally to 661,198, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Of the new cases, 1,992 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 16,601 through ARTs (antigen rapid tests), according to the health ministry.
South Korea
South Korea reported 165,890 more COVID-19 cases as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 2,665,077, the health authorities said Friday.
The daily caseload was slightly down from 170,016 in the previous day, falling below 170,000 in three days, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a joint press conference following a meeting with his German counterpart in the foreign office in Berlin, Germany, on May 6, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
Turkey
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Thursday that he tested positive for the COVID-19 again, only five days after his coronavirus test came out negative following his infection last week.
Cavusoglu made the statement during his official visit to Kazakhstan.
"After the test that I had in Kazakhstan came out positive, we held the strategic planning group meeting with my brother (Kazakh foreign minister) Mukhtar Tileuberdi via video conference as a precaution," he tweeted.
On Feb 16, Cavusoglu announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus. His symptoms were mild and he planned to continue to work from home, the minister stated.
Four days later, the foreign minister tweeted on Feb 19 that his COVID-19 tests had turned negative.