A woman wears a face mask amid concern over the spread of the COVID-19, while shopping for headscarf ahead of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as businesses have been allowed to reopen in Kuala Lumpur on May 21, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

CAIRO / DUBAI / SEOUL / TOKYO / NEW DELHI - Malaysians will have to use face masks in crowded public areas including on public transportation from August, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Thursday amid the rising COVID-19 cases recently.

The minister, who coordinate the restrictive measures, said in a press briefing that the government made the decision following the increase of COVID-19 cases in recent days and a lack of compliance on standard operating procedure (SOP) among the public.

"Due to this, the government has made the decision that facemasks on public transport and crowded public places will be mandatory from Aug 1. This decision takes into account the increase in new clusters that have been identified and on the advice of the Health Ministry," he said.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah told a separate press conference that nine more cases had been reported on Thursday, bringing the national total to 8,840 cases.

Pedestrians cross a street in the Shinjuku district in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Japan

Tokyo found 366 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a jump in infections that was a record for a single day as a four-day holiday weekend got started in Japan.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, announcing the figures, urged residents in the capital to stay home, and said that cases are increasing among people in their 40’s and 50’s. The city’s running total topped 10,000 and new cases nationwide hit a new daily record on Wednesday.

“Without cooperation from everyone to stop it, calculations show that the numbers could increase exponentially,” Koike told reporters. “That will mean putting a brake again on economic and social activities and everyone has to cooperate to prevent that.”

Thursday’s total marked a surge in Tokyo cases from 238 on Wednesday, and compared with the previous high of 293 on July 17.

The number of confirmed cases in Japan increased by 920 to reach 28,190 amid a resurgence of infections across the country, according to Japan's health ministry and local governments.

The number of daily new infections hit a record high as six prefectures reported their highest number of daily new cases.

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan on Thursday reported 201 new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 35,928 cases, the country's Ministry of Public Health confirmed.

Another 21 COVID-19 patients succumbed to the virus, taking the number of people who lost their lives to 1,211 since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in February.

Combodia

Cambodia on Thursday confirmed one more imported COVID-19 case, raising the total number of infections in the kingdom to 198, said a Health Ministry's press statement.

The latest case was found on a 28-year-old Cambodian man, who arrived in Cambodia on July 19 from Russia, with a connecting flight in Malaysia, the statement said, adding that he was on the same flight with the 20 positive cases detected on Monday.

India

The total number of COVID-19 cases surpassed the 1.2 million mark in India, reaching 1,238,635, while the death toll reached 29,861, said the latest data from the federal health ministry on Thursday.

India's federal health ministry Thursday morning said 1,129 new deaths due to COVID-19, besides fresh 45,720 positive cases, were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the numbers of deaths to 29,861 and total cases to 1,238,635.

This is the highest single-day jump in terms of both fresh COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country so far.

Iran

Iran's health minister said that a vaccine for the novel coronavirus developed by the Iranian scientists has "successfully" passed the initial tests, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, recorded 2,586 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 281,413.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said the pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 14,853 Iranians, up by 219 in the past 24 hours.

READ MORE: Malaysia considers making face masks compulsory in public

Iraqis wearing a protective mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, buy fresh produce from a street seller at a market in Karrada, in the capital Baghdad, on July 14, 2020. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Iraq

Iraq recorded 2,706 COVID-19 cases during the day, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 99,865.

 It also reported 92 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 4,042.

The Iraqi Health Ministry said on Wednesday that it has assigned two centers in Baghdad to test coronavirus infection for travellers, just a day before the reopening of airports.

Israel

Israel’s parliament approved a bill that allows the cabinet to declare a state of emergency and impose new restrictions with little to no parliamentary supervision. 

Lawmakers would have 24 hours to vet new regulations, which would automatically take effect in the case of no opposition. If the government deems the restrictions urgent, then they can take effect immediately.

Israel's Ministry of Health recorded 2,043 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, raising the total number in the country to 56,085.

The death toll in Israel rose to 430, after five more fatalities were confirmed, while the total recoveries surged to 23,310 after 567 more patients recovered.

ALSO READ: India cancels historic Hindu pilgrimage as virus cases mount

Jordan 

Jordan on Wednesday decided to ease travel restrictions and extend daily working hours until midnight for all economic sectors, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

The government also decided to allow citizens to shop outside until 1 a.m. instead of midnight, Minister of Industry and Trade Tariq Hammouri was quoted by Petra as saying.

Also on Wednesday, Jordan's Tourism Ministry allowed all restaurants and cafes to serve waterpipe tobacco under necessary precautions.

Jordan's Health Ministry on Wednesday reported seven imported coronavirus cases, raising the total number in the kingdom to 1,120.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan's total COVID-19 cases reached 30,326 on Thursday, after 967 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

Ainura Akmatova, head of the public healthcare department of the country's health ministry, said that 49 of the new cases are medical workers, raising the tally of contracted medical workers to 2,527, including 1,160 recoveries.

Lebanon

Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Wednesday by 124 cases to 3,104, while the death toll went up by two to 43.

Palestine

Palestine registered 356 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 11,280, which includes 2,142 recoveries and 68 deaths.

Qatar

Qatar's health ministry on Wednesday announced 441 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 107,871.

Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday, Saudi Health Ministry announced 2,331 new COVID-19 cases and 44 more deaths, raising the tally of confirmed cases in the kingdom to 258,156 and the death toll to 2,601.

The total number of recoveries from the disease rose to 210,398, the ministry said.

Worshippers keeping a safe distance from one another perform prayers at a mosque in the emirate of Sharjah after the United Arab Emirates reopened places of worship following months of closure to avoid the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, on July 1, 2020. (KARIM SAHIB / AFP)

South Korea

South Korea reported 59 more cases of the COVID-19 as of 0:00 am Thursday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 13,938.

The daily caseload stayed around 60 for two straight days due to the continued small cluster infections and imported cases.

The small cluster infections were still found from a real estate company and a church in Seoul and an army unit in Gyeonggi province.

The Philippines

The Philippines is suspending a decision to allow non-essential overseas travel, after just one company agreed to provide health insurance to outbound passengers. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 74,390 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,200 new cases on Thursday.

The death toll also increased to 1,871 with 28 more patients having succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH said.

Turkey

Turkey's COVID-19 cases increased by 902 on Wednesday, while the total diagnosed cases climbed to 222,402, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

Meanwhile, 19 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,545, Koca tweeted.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates’s citizens will hold prayers for Eid al-Adha, a four-day Muslim holiday, at homes instead of mosques while calls to prayers will be broadcasted, a spokesman for the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates announced 236 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 57,734. The total recoveries rose to 50,354 while the death toll increased to 342.

Yemen

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces increased to 1,640 on Wednesday, as 11 new cases were confirmed.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries in the government-controlled areas has increased to 751 during the past 24 hours since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus on April 10, the Yemeni health ministry said in a press statement.

The ministry also announced that the death toll from the respiratory disease climbed to 458 in different areas under the government control, including the southern port city of Aden.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 354 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 49,098.

Of the new cases, five are imported cases, eight are community cases and the rest are linked with the dormitories of foreign workers.

Among them, 98 percent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

The ministry said 220 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, making the number of fully-recovered to 45,015.

There are currently 137 confirmed cases that are still in the hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Kuwait 

Kuwait on Thursday reported 687 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 61,872 and the death toll to 421, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Currently, 9,204 patients are receiving treatment, including 124 in ICU, the statement added.

The ministry also announced the recovery of 727 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 52,247.

Vietnam 

Vietnam reported four new cases of COVID-19 infection on Thursday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 412 with zero deaths so far, according to the Ministry of Health.

Among the latest cases, one was a 37-year-old Filipino woman and three were Vietnamese aged 25 to 49, said the ministry, noting that they have all recently traveled or returned to Vietnam from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival.

Meanwhile, as many as 365 people have totally recovered from the disease as of Thursday.

Indonesia 

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 1,906 within one day to 93,657, with the death toll adding by 117 to 4,576, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the ministry, 1,909 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 52,164.