Vietnam’s daily COVID-19 cases hit another new record

A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

HANOI / JAKARTA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / SINGAPORE / WELLINGTON / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / SEOUL / SUVA – Daily COVID-19 tally in Vietnam rose to a new record of 147,358 cases on Monday, up 5,222 cases from Sunday, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new infections, logged in 63 localities nationwide, included 147,335 domestically transmitted and 23 imported cases.

Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the epidemic hotspot with 32,317 cases on Monday, also its new daily high, followed by central Nghe An province with 10,153 cases, and northern Bac Ninh province with 7,873 cases.

The infections brought the total tally to 4,582,058 with 40,891 deaths. Nationwide, as many as 2,718,440 COVID-19 patients, or 59 percent of the infections, have so far recovered.

Over 197.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including 180.9 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

Vietnam has by far gone through four coronavirus waves of increasing scale, complication, and infectivity. As of Monday, it has registered nearly 4.6 million locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since the start of the current wave in April 2021, said the health ministry. 

Brunei

Brunei reported 4,005 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the national tally to 88,849.

As a country of 420,000 people, Brunei saw its daily cases hitting 4,885 on Thursday, another record high, after exceeding the 4,000 mark last Monday.

All the newly recorded cases were local infections, the country's health ministry said.

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 42,967,315 on Monday as 4,362 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry's latest data.

Besides, 66 deaths due to the pandemic since Sunday morning took the total death toll to 515,102.

A worker walks past a mural as he sprays disinfectant amid fears of another wave of the coronavirus outbreak at a low income neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, Feb 5, 2022. (DITA ALANGKARA / AP)

Indonesia

International travelers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are allowed to visit the Indonesian resort island of Bali without any quarantine process starting Monday, a senior official said.

International visitors are only required to show proofs of hotel bookings for a minimum of four days and certificates showing negative results of COVID-19, besides having health insurance upon their arrivals on the holiday island, according to Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

"International travelers have to undergo PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests upon entry. After getting negative results, they can be free to do their activities under health protocols," Pandjaitan told a virtual press conference, adding that on the third day of international tourists' arrivals, they need to take additional PCR tests at their respective hotels.

If the implementation of this measure is successful in Bali, the quarantine-free policy will be carried out throughout Indonesia starting April 1, he said.

Currently, the number of COVID-19 transmissions in this Southeast Asian country is showing a downward trend, except for five provinces, namely Aceh, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo, and North Kalimantan.

Indonesia on Sunday confirmed 24,867 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 5,748,725, the Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the death toll from COVID-19 rose by 254 to 150,172.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 27,435 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Sunday, bringing the total tally to 3,622,607, according to the health ministry.

Among them were 254 new imported cases and 27,181 local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

A further 55 deaths have been reported from the pandemic, bringing the death toll to 33,228.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported 17,522 new community cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Among the new community infections, 7,639 were in the largest city Auckland. Eleven new cases of COVID-19 were detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry.

Samoa

Samoa reported on Monday eight new positive COVID-19 cases.

According to the newspaper Samoa Observer, chief of  Samoa's National Emergency Operation Center Agafili Shem Leo has confirmed the eight new cases, saying that they are passengers on board a repatriation flight from New Zealand on Sunday.

Currently, the eight cases are in quarantine.

Singapore

Singapore reported 13,158 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total tally to 832,821.

Of the new cases, 1,665 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 11,493 through ARTs (antigen rapid tests), according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 1,610 were local transmissions and 55 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 11,408 local transmissions and 85 imported cases.

South Korea

South Korea recorded 210,716 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 4,666,977, the health authorities said Monday.

The daily caseload was down from the 243,626 cases reported in the previous day due to fewer tests over the weekend, but it was 1.5 times higher than a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).