A health worker walks to screen residents for COVID-19 symptoms at Dharavi, one of Asia's biggest slums, in Mumbai, India, June 24, 2020 (RAJANISH KAKADE / AP)

SYDNEY / DUBAI / SEOUL / ADEN / NEW DELHI / TOKYO / JERUSALEM - India reported 16,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, its highest daily increase since the outbreak began, and the government called in the army to manage new treatment centres with thousands of additional hospital beds in New Delhi.

At more than 456,000 confirmed coronavirus cases so far, India is the fourth worst hit country in the world, behind the United States, Brazil and Russia, according to a Reuters tally.

Cases are expected to keep rising as state governments ease restrictions in place since lockdown was first imposed in late March.

New Delhi, the sprawling capital of more than 20 million people, also recorded its highest single-day increase on Wednesday, with more than 3,900 cases. Local government data showed that of the roughly 13,400 beds allocated to COVID-19 patients in the city, around 6,200 were occupied.

The federal home ministry said the city would have around 20,000 additional beds available by next week at temporary facilities run by army doctors and nurses.

These include a 10,000 bed facility hosted at a religious centre and railway coaches turned into wards.

“Armed Forces personnel have been detailed for providing medical care and attention to COVID-19 patients housed in the Railway coaches in Delhi,” Home Minister Amit Shah said.

The city government estimates it will have 550,000 COVID-19 cases by the end of July, and will require 150,000 beds by then.

Israel

Israel announced a week-long lockdown in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad and five neighborhoods in the northern city of Tiberias, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in an attempt to rein in soaring coronavirus case numbers. 

No one will be permitted to leave or enter the areas, except to go to work or take exams, though businesses will be permitted to remain open.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 430 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest daily number since April 22. This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Israel to 21,512, of which 5,335 are currently active cases, the highest since May 6. 

The number of death cases increased from 307 to 308, while the number of patients in serious condition fell from 44 to 40, the ministry said. 

Australia

Australia's second most populous state on Wednesday said a man in his 80s died overnight from the coronavirus, the country's first death from the virus in more than a month, as the state logged a double digit rise in cases for the eighth straight day. 

Victoria state reported 20 overnight cases, Victoria Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne, taking the state tally to nearly 1,900 after recording 17 on Tuesday and 16 the day before. 

The upswing in new cases in Victoria has sparked fears of a second wave, with 241 cases in the state so far identified as community transmission, an increase of eight from Tuesday.

The state on the weekend extended its state of emergency for another month and reimposed restrictions on gatherings to stem a spike in coronavirus infections after seeing a sharp rise in daily infections.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported over 3,400 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total in the country to more than 122,000.

Senior health ministry official Nasima Sultana told a briefing on Wednesday afternoon, "3,462 new COVID-19 positive cases and 37 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She said, "The total number of positive cases is now 122,660 and death toll stands currently at 1,582."

Pedestrians wearing face masks cross the street in the Ginza area in Tokyo on June 23, 2020. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

Indonesia

Indonesia reported 1,113 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking its total number of cases to 49,009. 

Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said there were 38 more deaths reported, with total fatalities now at 2,573.

Iran

Iran, which has reemerged as the hardest-hit country by the pandemic in the Middle East, reported 2,445 new cases, raising the tally of confirmed cases in the country to 209,970.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said that 121 people died from the infectious disease overnight, the highest single-day fatalities since April 11 when 125 deaths were recorded, taking the total fatalities to 9,863.

Iraq

Iraqi Health Ministry reported 1,826 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 34,502.

It also confirmed 84 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 1,251 in the country.

Iraqi Deputy Health Minister Hazim al-Jumaili said that health workers and security forces will work together in implementing the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

READ MORE: Netanyahu weighs renewing COVID-19 tracking tool

Japan

Tokyo reported the highest daily cases in seven weeks, which the city have moved in a range of around 20 to 40 for much of the past week, with infections not exceeding 50 since early May, when the city was still under a state of emergency.

The metropolis, with a population of 14 million, has sought to keep new cases below 20 a day after Japan lifted a state of emergency on May 25. Tokyo has said it could re-impose restrictions if the figure crept up to 50 or more - something that last happened on May 5.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike highlighted the need to adjust workplace environments to contain the spread of the pandemic. She noted that while restaurants had adapted by placing barriers between tables, workplaces had yet to change, with concerns over workers’ productivity while wearing masks.

Japan will create a new cental health agency after the country experienced delays in response due to bureaucratic divisions, the Nikkei reported, without attribution. The agency will have greater authority and also focus on coordination with the government and international organizations, according to the newspaper.

A vendor sits at a shop selling medicinal plants and spices at a market in Yemen's third city of Taez, on June 15, 2020. (AHMAD AL-BASHA / AFP)

Jordan

Jordan reported five new cases of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, increasing the total number of cases to 1,047.

Kazakhstan 

Kazakhstan has locked down two towns near its capital Nur-Sultan to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the surrounding province, the authorities said on Wednesday. Roads leading to the towns of Kokshetau and Stepnogorsk will be blocked and a curfew has been imposed in both, the chief sanitary doctor of Akmola province said in a statement. 

The authorities have also closed all entertainment venues and barred mass public gatherings throughout the province and restricted access to hospitals and institutions such as orphanages and retirement homes. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Central Asian nation has jumped almost six-fold to over 30,000 since it ended a state of emergency and a nationwide lockdown in mid-May.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 742 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 41,033 and the death toll to 334.

ALSO READ: Japan govt shuts down contact-tracing app after glitches

Kyrgyz 

Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov missed a World War Two victory parade in Russia on Wednesday after two people who accompanied him on the flight to Moscow tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival, his office said.

Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday reported 207 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 3,726. Of the new cases, 25 patients were medical workers, bringing the total number of infected medical workers to 629, the country's Deputy Health Minister Mademin Karataev said at a news briefing.

He also reported one new virus-related death, raising the nationwide fatality toll to 42.

Lebanon

Lebanon's COVID-19 infections increased on Tuesday by 19 to 1,622, while the death toll remained at 32.

The Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier, announced that foreign passengers must undergo PCR tests over COVID-19 concerns.

Nepal

COVID-19 cases in Nepal crossed 10,000 on Tuesday, formally entering into the worst case scenario as defined by the Nepali government, a senior official of Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said. 

"With new 538 cases in the last 24 hours, the number of total COVID-19 cases in Nepal reached 10,099," Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, said told a press briefing.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported one new case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total active cases in the country to 11, according to the Ministry of Health.

The person who has tested positive is a woman in her 60s who arrived in New Zealand on June 18. She travelled back from India on a repatriation flight, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a press conference.

Oman

Oman reported 1,318 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 32,394. Three new deaths from the virus were reported, bringing the death toll to 140.

Palestine

On Tuesday, the Palestinians reported 179, the highest number to date as the Palestinian Authority put the West Bank city of Hebron on lockdown. 

PNG

Parts of Papua New Guinea's (PNG) capital of Port Moresby were placed in lockdown and military personnel is undergoing mass testing, after an Australian soldier became the country's ninth confirmed COVID-19 case, local newspaper The National reported on Wednesday.

Qatar

Qatar's Health Ministry on Tuesday announced 1,176 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 89,579.

"Some 1,545 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 71,501, while the fatalities remained 99," the official Qatar News Agency quoted a statement by the ministry as saying.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 3,139 new coronavirus cases, raising the accumulated infections to 164,144. The death toll reached 1,346 after 39 more fatalities were confirmed in the kingdom. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced that only domestic pilgrims aged under 65 and free from chronic diseases will be allowed to perform Hajj this season to protect the safety of pilgrims amid the global spread of coronavirus.

Medical workers staff a drive-through COVID-19 testing site located in a shopping centre carpark in Melbourne on June 23, 2020. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health reported 119 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 42,432.

Of the new cases, 97 percent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

South Korea

South Korea reported 51 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 am Wednesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 12,535.

The daily caseload rose above 50 in four days owing to the continued growth in both local and imported cases. Of the new cases, 20 were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 1,491.

Thailand

Thailand plans to allow some foreign travellers into the country starting next week, as it eases restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, a senior official said on Wednesday. 

The first group of foreigners that have registered for 14-day state quarantine include those with work permits, investors and business executives, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesman for the government's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration. 

The new measures will be subject to approval by the government's task force that meets on Monday, he said, adding that medical tourists would also be allowed entry.

Thailand reported one imported case on Wednesday as no local transmission has been detected for 30 days. The new case is a man aged 31 who worked at a restaurant in the Philippines.

The Philippines

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 32,295 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 470 more infections on Wednesday.

The DOH said in its bulletin that the number of recoveries further rose to 8,656 after 214 more patients have survived the disease.

Turkey

Turkey's confirmed novel coronavirus cases on Tuesday increased by 1,268 to 190,165. The death toll surged to 5,001 after 27 more deaths were confirmed.

Turkey's coronavirus death toll has reached 5,001, after 27 more people died in the previous 24 hours, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Tuesday. Turkey said had conducted 42,982 more tests in the space of 24 hours, taking the total so far to over 3 million, Koca said on Twitter.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday announced 380 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 45,683.

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

The ministry added that 657 more patients have made full recovery from the virus, taking the tally of the UAE's recoveries to 33,703.

Yemen

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces increased to 992, as 25 new cases were confirmed.

Also, the Yemeni government announced that the death toll from the deadly respiratory disease climbed to 261 in different areas under its control, including the southern port city of Aden.