The smartphone screen, seen in Yokohama, Japan, shows a trial version of the COVID-19 Contact Confirming Application, or COCOA, released on June 19, 2020, by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The notice explains how to record the history of the user’s contacts. The coronavirus tracing app is designed to alert users if they come in contact with someone tested positive for the coronavirus. Once installed, the app logs data via Bluetooth from phones that stay in close proximity for over 15 minutes. (PHOTO / AP)

SEOUL / ANKARA / DUBAI / CAIRO / NEW DELHI / SYDNEY / TOKYO / LUCKNOW - Japan's health ministry is trying to fix glitches in its newly launched COVID-19 contact-tracing app that has forced it to be shut down just days after its nationwide launch, the government said Tuesday.

The free smartphone app which was launched last Friday by the health ministry and has been downloaded around 3.71 million times as of Tuesday morning, has been shut down temporarily following major glitches being detected in the software.

One of the bugs allows erroneous numbers not issued by public healthcare facilities to be accepted and registered by the app, Japan's health minister Katsunobu Kato told a press briefing on the matter Tuesday.

The system is supposed to only accept official "processing numbers" assigned by public medical facilities from people who have been confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19.

The health ministry said that the "processing numbers" have stopped being issued and the app's key notification function has been suspended.

Kato also highlighted another defect in the app related to the wrong download date being issued, in another blow to the government's efforts to promote the widespread use of the app so that people who have come into close proximity with a person infected with the virus can be notified.

The government has pledged to fix the faulty app within a week, with the ministry saying it does not think that faulty alerts have been issued wrongly notifying people that they have come into close contact with a COVID-19 carrier.  

A long queue of cars wait at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site located in a shopping centre carpark in Melbourne on June 23, 2020. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Australia

Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has flagged that COVID-19 hotspots could be locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid growing fears that a new wave of cases could do further damage to the economy. 

Addressing the spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria, Hunt said Tuesday that there's a possibility of tighter lockdowns in some local government areas.

Victoria’s been responsible for more than 80% of Australia’s new infections in the past week, the majority down to community transmission.

Premier Daniel Andrews said about half the cases recorded this month could be traced back to large family groups that have disobeyed social-distancing measures. Over the weekend halved the number of visitors allowed in homes to five.

As at 3:00 pm on Monday, a total of 7,474 cases have been reported in Australia, including 102 deaths and 6,903 having been recovered, according to the Department of Health.

Afghanistan

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday confirmed 324 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of the patients in the country to 29,481.

"A total of 953 tests were conducted within the past 24 hours, and 324 cases were positive for COVID-19 in 10 provinces of 34 Afghan provinces," the ministry said in a statement. Twenty COVID-19 patients died within the period, taking the death toll to 618, the statement added.

India

Dozens of girls at an Indian care home for runaways and sexual abuse victims have tested positive for coronavirus, raising renewed scrutiny over the management of state-run shelters as the country faces a surge of new infections.

The shelter in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has since been sealed, and the 57 girls who tested positive - five of whom were pregnant - were moved to hospitals, with staff put in quarantine, local officials said.

The outbreak sparked anger on social media, and opposition politicians said it reflected negligence by state authorities and a lack of care for the girls - all aged under 18, demanding a probe into how the virus reached the shelter.

India’s national human rights commission, child protection panel and the state commission for women have also demanded detailed reports on the case and proper treatment for the girls.

The case comes as India grapples with a steep rise in new coronavirus infections. The federal health ministry said 312 new deaths and 14,933 new cases were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 14,011 and total cases to 440,215.

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported over 3,400 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total in the country to nearly 120,000.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing on Tuesday afternoon that "3,412 new COVID-19 positive cases and 43 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

Combodia

Cambodia on Tuesday confirmed a new imported COVID-19 case, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 130, according to a Health Ministry's statement.

The latest case is a 66-year-old Cambodian-American man, who flew from the United States to Cambodia on Sunday and the testing result indicated on Monday that he was positive for the virus, the statement said.

Indonesia

Indonesia reported 1,051 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking its total number of cases to 47,896. Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said there were 35 more deaths reported, with total fatalities now at 2,535. 

Iran

Iran on Monday reported 2,573 new COVID-19 infections while Turkey confirmed 1,212 new ones, as much of the Middle East region is on high alert for the looming resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic amid the gradual ease of anti-coronavirus restrictions across the region.

In Iran, the hardest hit country in the Middle East, the overall number of the novel coronavirus cases has grown to 207,525, while the pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 9,742 Iranians, up by 119 in the past 24 hours, according to Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

She said the provinces of Khuzestan, East Azarbaijan, Hormozgan and Kermanshah remain as the high-risk region over the COVID-19 pandemic.

A doctor affiliated with the Palestinian Health Ministry displays a collected sample for testing for the novel coronavirus in a mobile tent in the West Bank city of Hebron, on June 22, 2020, two days after the Palestinian Authority temporarily closed the city in a bid to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic amid a sharp rise in infections. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)

Iraq

Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said on Monday that the country is nearing the peak stage of COVID-19 infections.

"The past few days have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of infections, indicating that the epidemiological situation is nearing the peak stage of the pandemic," al-Tamimi said in a statement.

The minister noted that the ministry is exerting every effort to contain the increasing number of infections, and it is seeking to prepare a makeshift hospitals with a capacity of 400 beds in the Iraqi provinces as soon as possible.

He said that Iraq's death rate from COVID-19 is 3.5 percent, and the recovery rate is 45 percent.

On the same day, Iraqi Health Ministry reported 1,808 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 32,676.

It also reported 67 deaths during the day, raising the death toll to 1,167 in the country, while 14,785 patients have recovered.

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Israel

The Israeli Coronavirus Cabinet has decided to impose a heavier fine for not wearing a face mask in public places, the prime minister's office said Monday.

The fine will be increased from 200 new shekels (US$58) to 500 new shekels, as part of the efforts to deal with the recent rise in COVID-19 morbidity.

The cabinet also decided to tighten the enforcement of restrictions, and establish a national administration that includes all enforcement authorities.

It also suggested a scenario of a second outbreak with 2,000 ventilated COVID-19 patients and 2,000 other ventilated patients suffering from other diseases.

This extreme scenario was given to guide the government regarding preparations and procurement by the Israeli healthcare system.

Israel reported on Monday 304 new coronavirus cases, the highest since April 23, bringing the total number in the country to 21,082.

Japan

Tokyo Disney Resort operator Oriental Land said on Tuesday it  will reopen its parks on July 1 with visitor numbers restricted as a coronavirus countermeasure. 

Oriental Land is considering limiting the number of visitors to some 15,000 per day for now, reservations will be required, masks will be required and guests will be subject to body temperature checks before entry, Nikkei said.

Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea were closed in late February as coronavirus cases rose in Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures, with businesses gradually reopening in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Japan will partially ease travel restrictions with Vietnam, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday, with flights between the two countries to be permitted from June 25-27.

A notice on precautions against the new coronavirus is displayed at a subway station in South Korea, Monday, June 22, 2020. The sign at top reads: "Social distance." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Kyrgyzstan 

Kyrgyzstan registered 163 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number to 3,519.

The country's Deputy Health Minister Mademin Karataev told a news briefing that 22 medical workers have tested positive for the virus over the past day, bringing the total number of contracted medical workers to 604, which includes 389 recoveries.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 cases on Monday rose by 16 and to 1,603.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported three new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the national total to 8,590, the Health Ministry said.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that all the new cases are local transmissions, of which two are foreign nationals and one is Malaysian.

Mongolia

Mongolia reported two new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 215, the country's National Center for Communicable Disease (NCCD) said Tuesday.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total active cases in the country to 10, which were all linked to overseas travel, according to the Ministry of Health.

The ministry has reported 1,165 confirmed cases to the World Health Organization, according to the ministry.

The number of COVID-19 related deaths in New Zealand was 22. 

Palestine

Palestine on Monday reported a record 168 daily new COVID-19 infections in the West Bank, bringing the total number in the Palestinian territories to 1,196 since the outbreak on March 5.

Meanwhile, five more died from the virus and 597 more have recovered, with 594 still receiving medical care, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said in a press statement.

Qatar

Qatar's Health Ministry on Monday announced 1,034 new infections of COVID-19, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 88,403.

 The ministry attributed the increase in coronavirus infections to gatherings and visits as well as ignoring the preventive measures such as staying at home and social distancing.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's haj minister said on Tuesday that the number of pilgrims attending haj this year would be limited to around 1,000 local citizens and residents, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. 

Pilgrims coming from overseas will be barred this year and the ministry will apply a strict health criteria to choose pilgrims who may attend, including excluding those above 65 years old, Mohammed Benten said at a news conference.Saudi Arabia registered on Monday 3,393 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 161,005, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Ministry of Health also reported 40 more deaths and 4,045 new recovered cases, increasing the death toll to 1,307 and the total recoveries to 105,175.

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South Korea

South Korea, which has seen success in containing the virus, reported 46 more cases in 24 hours -- bringing its total tally to 12,484 -- data from Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention showed. 

The daily caseload rebounded due to a sharp hike in imported cases after falling below 20 in the previous day. Of the new cases, 30 were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 1,471.

16 new coronavirus cases were confirmed from a Russian-flagged refrigerated cargo carrier ship that arrived at a port in its southern city of Busan, the country’s Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said. 

A worker, wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus, carries a load at Jiddah's historical district, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia,  June 15, 2020. (AMR NABIL / AP)

Thailand

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said at a briefing that he’s debating whether to extend the country’s state of emergency after it expires June 30. Thailand will extend the state of emergency if needed, but is set to ease restriction measures as much as possible.

The Philippines

The Philippine health ministry on Tuesday reported 1,150 additional cases of the novel coronavirus, the country's biggest single-day increase in infections. 

In a bulletin, the ministry said total cases have reached 31,825 while deaths have increased by nine to 1,186.

Turkey

Turkey has so far confirmed a total of 188,897 coronavirus cases in the country, with daily new infections kept at more than 1,000 since June 13.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Monday that 24 more patients died from the virus, taking the death toll to 4,974, while 1,293 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of recoveries to 161,533.

Earlier in the day, Turkey started to impose fines of up to 900 liras (US$131) on those who don't wear face masks in public places as part of the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The measure will cover outdoor spaces as well as shops and restaurants in 81 provinces of Turkey.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced 378 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 45,303.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said in a statement that the new cases of many nationalities are all in stable condition and receiving medical treatment.

According to the ministry, 631 more patients have fully recovered from the virus, taking the tally of the UAE's recoveries to 33,046.

The ministry also confirmed one more death, pushing up the country's death toll to 303.

Uzbekistan

Dozens of "red zones" in Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, that have reported high numbers of new coronavirus infections are to be temporarily cut off from the rest of the city, the government said on Monday. 

Checkpoints will be used to control exit and entry. The Central Asian nation has been gradually lifting coronavirus-related restrictions since last month, having divided its territory into "red", "yellow" and "green" zones depending on the rate of infection.

Yemen

War-torn Yemen recorded on Monday 26 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the provinces controlled by the government, bringing the total number to 967.