Police arrest people protesting against coronavirus mandates at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on Feb 10, 2022. (MARK MITCHEEL / NZ HERALD VIA AP)
BANGKOK / COLOMBO / DHAKA / HANOI / JAKARTA / TOKYO / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / SINGAPORE / ANKARA / AMMAN / WELLINGTON / SYDNEY / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD / ULAN BATOR / PHNOM PENH / MANILA – More people arrived outside New Zealand's parliament on Friday, as protesters calling for an end to a vaccine mandate and tough COVID-19 restrictions refused to end their demonstrations despite arrests by the police
It's been four days since several thousand protesters, inspired by truckers' demonstrations in Canada, occupied the parliament lawns in the capital Wellington, and blocked surrounding streets with their trucks, cars, camper vans and motorcycles.
On Thursday, the police arrested 120 people as they attempted to forcefully remove the protesters, but were seen falling back later in the day as the campers refused to move.
The police said in a statement on Friday that there were no incidents of note overnight at the parliament grounds, although 2 more people were arrested for "alcohol-related behaviour".
There are a range of different causes and motivations among the protesters, making it difficult to open clear and meaningful lines of communication, the police said, adding that misinformation, particularly on social media, has been identified as an issue.
More tents and even a gazebo went up on the lawn as more protesters arrived from across the country on Friday. But the crowd was peaceful, singing and dancing, unlike the angry demonstrations seen on Thursday.
A small number of protesters were also reported to have gathered in other cities like Nelson and Christchurch in solidarity.
The protesters ignored calls from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to "move on". The continuing stand off is mounting political pressure on Ardern, whose approval ratings taking a hit in recent opinion polls.
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 residents will need to receive booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19, although authorities said foreign travelers will continue to need only two shots to enter the country.
Australia's national cabinet late on Thursday endorsed the revised guidance from the country's vaccination advisory group to classify "up-to-date" inoculations as including boosters.
A person's vaccination status will be considered "overdue" if they have not received a booster within six months of their second dose, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Australian officials have made vaccines mandatory only for some frontline workers, but many private businesses, including major corporations, restaurants and retailers, have made inoculations a requirement for entry.
The country is among the most heavily vaccinated in the world as a result, with 94 percent of people above 16 double-dosed. Nearly 10 million boosters have been administered so far.
The decision to keep the requirement for visitors to two doses only comes as authorities prepare to fully reopen Australia's borders, around two years after they were slammed shut to slow the progress of the pandemic.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh has reported scores of COVID-19 cases traced to the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant, which appears to be more infectious than the original BA.1 variant.
The country's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) under the Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed identification of BA.2 Omicron sub-lineage cases.
ASM Alamgir, principal scientific officer of the IEDCR, told Xinhua that BA.2 Omicron sub-variant is currently the most active variant in Bangladesh.
Out of 148 samples tested between Jan 1 and Jan 31, he said, 118 were Omicron (80 percent) and 30 Delta (20 percent). Among all, Omicron BA.1 (39 percent) and Omicron BA.2 (41 percent) were the most prominent lineages. They have also identified Delta AY.131 (18 percent) and other Deltas (2 percent).
He said Omicron BA.2 (79 percent) became the dominant lineage in the second half of January 2022.
Brunei
Brunei reported 628 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a record daily rise, bringing the national tally to 19,473.
A previous record daily high was reported on Oct. 17, 2021 with 504 COVID-19 cases.
According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, the newly recorded cases included 617 local infections and 11 import cases.
Cambodia
Cambodia on Friday called on people to reduce large scale gatherings on Valentine's Day that falls on Feb 14, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19, as the number of COVID-19 Omicron variant cases continued to rise.
Health Minister Mam Bunheng said in a press statement that every year, some people, especially youth, gather for entertainment purposes or dining together on Valentine's Day, although it is not a Cambodian tradition.
"These activities can pose a high risk for a large scale transmission of COVID-19, particularly the Omicron variant, into the community," he said.
"The Ministry of Health would like to remind all members of the public, especially young men and women, to remain vigilant about the possibility of COVID-19 virus circulating in our community and to strictly implement health measures," said the minister.
A health worker administers COVID-19 vaccination to a girl, in New Delhi, India, Jan 28, 2022. (MANISH SWARUP / AP)
India
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 42,536,137 on Friday, as 58,077 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 657 deaths were recorded since Thursday morning, taking the death toll to 507,177.
Indonesia
Indonesia on Thursday confirmed 40,618 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 4,667,554, the Health Ministry said.
According to the ministry, the death toll from COVID-19 in the country rose by 74 to 144,858.
People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk along a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo on Jan 21, 2022. (EUGENE HOSHIKO / AP)
Japan
Japan's health ministry on Thursday greenlighted the use of an oral COVID-19 pill produced by Pfizer Inc to increase treatment options for people with mild symptoms.
The approval came after a ministry panel passed the drug's use on the same day, amid surging infections caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The pill called Paxlovid, a combination of two antiviral drugs, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, will be the second oral drug available in Japan to treat mild COVID-19 symptoms.
The Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare is expected to approve the fast-tracking of Paxlovid soon.
Following the approval, the Japanese government plans to initially secure enough doses for 40,000 people.
The country has already agreed with the Japanese branch of the US pharmaceutical giant to acquire enough doses for 2 million people within the year.
Jordan
Jordan said on Thursday that the Omicron variant accounted for 90 percent of its daily COVID-19 cases.
Adel Bilbeisi, the official in charge of the COVID-19 pandemic, said that a total of 116,000 cases have been registered in the current epidemiological week ending on Friday, the state-run Petra news agency reported.
He noted that the fourth wave is witnessing lower deaths compared with the previous waves.
Regarding the national vaccination program against the pandemic, Bilbeisi said that 72 percent of people aged above 18 have received the first dose, and 66 percent have got the second shot.
Jordan on Thursday reported 22 COVID-19 related deaths, taking the death toll to 13,431, while 21,460 new cases were reported, bringing the caseload to 1,417,890.
A bus driver sanitizes the interior of a bus before passengers' boarding at Larkin bus station in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Nov 29, 2021. ( VINCENT THIAN / AP)
Malaysia
Malaysia recorded 19,090 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Thursday, bringing the total tally to 2,975,422, according to the health ministry.
Among the newly reported infections were 134 new imported cases and 18,956 local transmissions, showed data released on the ministry's website.
A further 10 deaths were reported from the pandemic, bringing the death toll to 32,075.
Mongolia
Mongolia's COVID-19 tally rose to 455,409 after 1,297 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry said Friday.
The new cases were all local transmissions, and among them, 687 were detected in capital Ulan Bator, which is the region hit hardest by COVID-19 and home to more than half of the country's population of 3.4 million.
Meanwhile, the total death toll increased to 2,067 after two more COVID-19 patients died in the past day, the ministry said.
Pakistan
Pakistan on Thursday recorded 3,498 new COVID-19 cases and 39 more deaths, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Friday.
The NCOC, a department leading the country's campaign against the pandemic, said the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country has risen to 1,477,573, including 1,365,518 recoveries.
According to the NCOC, 39 more deaths from the pandemic were recorded on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 29,687.
A health worker (right) walks past people queueing up for coronavirus swab tests outside a gymnasium in Manila on Jan 7, 2022. (STR / AFP)
Philippines
The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,788 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,630,637.
The DOH said 72 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 54,854. Of the 72 deaths, 55 died this year, the DOH said.
The number of active patients in the country dropped to 91,147 from Thursday's 93,307. The country's positivity rate also dropped to 14.7 percent from 15.1 percent the previous day.
Singapore
Singapore reported 10,686 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total tally to 439,640.
Of the new cases, 2,673 were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 8,013 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
South Korea
South Korea reported 53,926 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total tally to 1,239,287, the health authorities said Friday.
The daily caseload was down from a record high of 54,122 in the previous day, but it hovered above 50,000 for the second straight day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Children wait to get a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 at a children's hospital in Colombo on Sept 24, 2021, as the country began inoculating children over 12. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP)
Sri Lanka
A total of 12,024 new COVID-19 cases were recorded across Sri Lanka within the 10 days starting from Jan 30 as health experts warned of a rise in the infections with the Omicron variant of the virus, according to health ministry officials on Thursday.
Ministry officials told Xinhua majority of the infections were reported in the capital Colombo, with most of them suspected to carry the Omicron variant.
Officials said that the COVID-19 death toll is also on the rise in the South Asian country.
Current hospitalizations are lower compared to the situation in the previous wave caused by the Delta variant, health officials said, attributing this to majority of the Sri Lankan people being vaccinated.
Workers wear face masks and practice social distancing while they wait to be tested for the coronavirus at Khaosan road, Jan 6, 2022, in Bangkok. (VICHAN POTI / AP)
Thailand
Thailand on Thursday reported 14,822 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, marking the highest daily case tally since early September 2021, according to official data.
It more than doubled a daily average of some 7,000 new cases registered in January, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the country's COVID-19 task force.
The capital Bangkok recorded 2,635 new cases in the last 24 hours, topping the list by region, according to the CCSA. The total number of COVID-19 infections has risen to more than 2.54 million in the Southeast Asian country.
The CCSA also reported 20 more fatalities on Thursday, raising the country's cumulative fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic to 22,364.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens to a question during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel following their meeting at Huber Villa presidential palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct 16, 2021. (FRANCISCO SECO / AP)
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tested negative for COVID-19 after being infected with the virus last week, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday.
"President Erdogan's PCR tests that we have done over the past two days have come back negative," his doctor Serkan Topaloglu was quoted as saying by the agency.
"I think that our president will return to his routine program very soon, even tomorrow," Topaloglu said.
The Turkish president and first lady Emine Erdogan were under isolation since Saturday after they had tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Vietnam
Vietnam reported 26,032 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, an increase of more than 2,000 cases from Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health.
The cases, logged in 61 localities nationwide, included 26,023 domestically transmitted and nine imported.
The capital Hanoi remained the locality with the highest number of infections on Thursday with 2,887 cases, followed by central Nghe An province with 1,749 cases and the northern Hai Phong city with 1,366 cases.
The infections brought the country's total tally to 2,430,683 with 38,688 deaths.