A member (left) of a police special action force checks for required quarantine identification from resident in Navotas in suburban Manila on July 16, 2020, after the local government reimposed a lockdown in the city due to increased COVID-19 infections. (TED ALJIBE / AFP)

SYDNEY / DUBAI / TOKYO / JERUSALEM / MUSCAT / HANOI - Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, from the central tourism hot spot of Danang after three residents tested positive for the coronavirus at the weekend, the government said on Monday.

The country is back on high alert after the government on Saturday confirmed its first community infections since April, and another three cases on Sunday, all in or around Danang.

The evacuation will take at least four days with domestic airlines operating approximately 100 flights daily from Danang to 11 Vietnamese cities, the government said in a statement.

By imposing strict quarantine measures and carrying out an aggressive and widespread testing programme during the pandemic, Vietnam has kept its total tally of reported infections to just 431, with no deaths.

Vietnam is still closed to foreign tourism, but there had been a surge in domestic travellers looking to take advantage of discounted flights and holiday packages to local hotels and resorts.

Those returning from Danang to other parts of the country would be required to quarantine at home for 14 days, the health ministry said.

Commuters walk past Melbourne's Flinders Street Station on July 23, 2020 on the first day of the mandatory wearing of face masks in public areas as the city experiences an outbreak of the COVID-19. (PHOTO / AFP)

Australia

Australia’s Victoria state on Monday reported the country’s highest daily increase in coronavirus infections, prompting the authorities to warn a six-week lockdown may last longer if people continue to go to work while feeling unwell. 

Victoria currently has more than 4,500 active cases after weeks of triple digits daily rises.

The second-most populous state reported 532 new cases of the virus which causes COVID-19, the most new cases in a day since the pandemic arrived in Australia, and six more deaths, taking the state toll to 77, almost half the national death toll. 

Five of the latest deaths were people in aged care facilities, the authorities said. 

Until recently Australia had avoided the high COVID-19 casualty rates of other countries, but a wave of community transmission in Victoria has prompted a lockdown in Melbourne, the only Australian city to make it mandatory to wear a facemask in public. 

“If you’ve got a sniffle, a scratchy throat, a headache, fever, then you can’t go to work,” said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in a televised news conference. 

“This is what is driving these numbers up, and the lockdown will not end until people stop going to work with symptoms and instead go and get tested because they have symptoms.”

Melbourne, home to a fifth of Australia’s 25 million population, is halfway though a six-week ban on movement other than for work, buying food, giving or receiving healthcare, or daily exercise. Andrews added that he may announce additional measures later this week. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the high number of new cases in Victoria showed how transmission of the illness among younger people, who were considered lower risk, could spread to aged care facilities through family members. Victoria has had 8,173 cases.

Neighbouring New South Wales (NSW) state, the country’s most populous, is also grappling with several virus clusters that have sprung up at a hotel, a Thai restaurant and a club. NSW reported 17 new cases on Monday. NSW has had 3,496 cases. 

Australia has recorded a total 14,935 cases and 161 deaths.

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Japan

 The Tokyo metropolitan government said on Monday that 131 new daily COVID-19 cases had been detected in the capital, marking the 19th straight day that more than 100 new daily infections had been confirmed.

The latest single-day tally, which edged below the 200-mark for the first time in seven days, compares to 239 COVID-19 cases recorded on Sunday, the metropolitan government said.

Japan's Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said in a video meeting with Japanese governors that business leaders will be asked to ramp up anti-virus measures such as encouraging the level of telecommuting achieved during Japan’s state of emergency this year, when it hit 70% to 80 percent. It has since fallen to about 30%, he added.

He also called on companies to encourage staggered shifts and avoid large after-work gatherings for drinks or meals.

A woman wearing a face mask amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus carries flowers at the Quang Ba flower market in Hanoi at dawn on May 11, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

Iraq

Iraq plans to impose a 10-day curfew from the end of this month in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during the Eid holidays. The curfew will start on July 30 and the government will review the situation at the end of the holidays. Iraq has been reporting coronavirus cases of over 2,000 a day and the country’s total number of infections is above 100,000 so far.

Iran

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiee has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.

Iran's confirmed novel coronavirus cases rose to 293,606 on Monday after an overnight registration of 2,434 new infections, state TV reported.

At her daily briefing, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said out of the new cases in the past 24 hours, 1,436 have been hospitalized.

Israel

Israel plans to gradually resume international flights, Minister of Transport Miri Regev announced Sunday night.

Regev said in a statement that she had received Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval for her ministry's plan for resuming flights.

We will do this responsibly, in full coordination, with the approval of the Ministry of Health and the National Security Council, and subject to the morbidity data," Regev noted.

According to the plan, passengers arriving from countries defined as "green" with low COVID-19 morbidity will only be quarantined for five days instead of the current 14 days.

Passengers arriving from "red" countries with high morbidity will be required to conduct a coronavirus test before boarding the flight to Israel.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 1,278 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 61,956.

The death toll from the virus rose to 470 after 13 new deaths were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 310 to 303, out of 731 patients currently hospitalized.

The number of recoveries increased to 27,025, with 108 new ones, while the number of active cases reached 34,461.

Jordan

A Jordanian official said on Sunday that international flights will resume operations at Jordan's airports starting Aug 5, state-run Petra news agency reported.

"There are no restrictions on who can travel from Jordan or come to the country, and for passengers arriving in the country, they will undergo necessary tests and procedures," said Haitham Misto, chief commissioner of Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission.

Starting Aug 5, flights will be allowed between Jordan and 22 countries, with updates provided every two weeks, he added.

Passengers coming to Jordan will be tested upon arrival, and passengers flying from Jordan will take the coronavirus test before departure, according to Misto.

On Sunday, Jordanian Health Minister Saad Jaber reported 14 new coronavirus cases in the kingdom, increasing the overall number to 1,168.

Kuwait

Kuwait on Monday reported 606 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 64,379 and the death toll to 438, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Currently, 8,884 patients are receiving treatment, including 121 in ICU, the statement added.

The ministry also announced the recovery of 684 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 55,057.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported another seven new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 8,904, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press briefing that four of the seven cases are imported and the remaining three are local transmissions.

One more case has been released, bringing the total cured and discharged to 8,601 or 96.6 percent of all the cases.

No new deaths had been reported, leaving the total deaths at 124.

Oman

Oman reported on Sunday 1,147 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 76,005.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Health said 1,238 patients of COVID-19 have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 55,299, while 13 new deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 384.

Meanwhile, Omani Minister of Health Ahmed Al-Saidi announced that his country is seeking to be among the first countries to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is produced.

"Ministry of Health is in constant coordination with the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) in order to obtain 700,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine after safety and efficacy has been confirmed," he told Oman News Agency. 

Palestine

The Palestinian health ministry on Sunday confirmed 335 new COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, bringing the total number in the Palestinian territories to 13,129.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus reached 78, while 4,211 patients have fully recovered, the ministry said, citing an increase in the recovery rate to about 36 percent.

Out of the 8,840 active patients in Palestine, 12 are being treated in intensive care units and two connected to respirators, according to the ministry.

The Philippines

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday defended his government’s policy to fight its coronavirus outbreak and said early intervention had prevented as many as 1.3 million to 3.5 million infections.

Speaking during his annual address to the nation and as the country’s cases grew to 82,040 and nearly 2,000 deaths, Duterte said a lengthy lockdown that was one of the world’s strictest may have hurt the economy but had kept numbers in check.

The Philippines eased restrictions on June 1, but cases have since quadrupled and critics say the country was too slow in detecting infections due to weak testing, which Duterte acknowledged started slowly.

Duterte also reiterated that he would not allow schools to reopen for face-to-face classes until a vaccine was available and had earlier believed one could be ready as early as September.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 82,040 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,657 new cases on Monday.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries further rose to 26,446 after 359 more patients have survived the disease.

The death toll also increased to 1,945 after 16 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH said.

The United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday announced 351 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 58,913.

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

And 554 more patients have recovered from the virus, taking its tally of recoveries to 52,182, according to the ministry.

It also confirmed one more death, pushing the country's death toll to 344.

The UAE was the first among the Gulf countries to report COVID-19 cases.

Turkey

Turkey's COVID-19 cases increased by 927 on Sunday, while the total diagnosed cases climbed to 226,100, said Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Meanwhile, 17 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,613, Koca tweeted.

Turkish health professionals conducted 40,016 tests in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests to 4,572,688, he said.

A total of 1,010 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 209,487 in Turkey since the outbreak, said Koca, noting that 1,249 patients are being treated in the intensive care units and 387 are intubated.

Lebanon

Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Sunday by 168 cases to 3,747 while death toll went up by four cases to 51, the National News Agency reported.

Firas Abiad, director general of Rafic Hariri University Hospital, said on Sunday that Lebanon stands on a knife-edge amid large increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.

"The figures witnessed in the past few days predict horrific developments unless we change course," Abiad said in a tweet.

Lebanon has, over the past days, witnessed the highest increase in COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the virus on Feb 21.

Qatar

Qatar's health ministry on Sunday announced 269 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 109,305.

"Some 274 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 106,024, while one person died, raising the fatalities to 165," the official Qatar News Agency reported, quoting a statement by the ministry.

A total of 472,442 persons in Qatar have undergone lab tests for COVID-19 so far, it added.  

Armenia

Armenia on Sunday reported 321 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing its total to 37,317, according to the National Center for Disease Control.

Data from the center showed that 235 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 26,478.

Meanwhile, five people died in the period, raising the death toll to 705.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has extended lockdown measures till Aug. 15 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the country's coronavirus commission said Sunday.

The Central Asian nation has introduced a second lockdown from July 10 to Aug. 1, closing all markets other than food markets, cafes and restaurants, as well as parks and educational centers and banning wedding and other family ceremonies.

For the past week the numbers of daily confirmed coronavirus infections increased to around 500 and the country's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said early this week that he has agreed on the government proposal to extend lockdown restriction beyond Aug. 1.

So far, Uzbekistan has registered 20,226 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 112 deaths and 10,831 recoveries.

India

India's federal health ministry on Monday morning reported 708 more deaths and 49,931 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, taking the number of deaths to 32,771 and total cases to 1,435,453.

This has been the highest single-day spike in terms of fresh COVID-19 cases in the country.

According to ministry officials, 917,568 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement, and the number of active cases in the country stood at 485,114.

As per the figures of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested up to July 26 is 16,806,803, including 515,472 samples tested on Sunday alone.

India needs to be “extra vigilant” as the novel coronavirus threat persists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a public address on Sunday, even as the country registered a record number of patient recoveries in a day.

Modi, in his monthly radio broadcast to the nation, sounded caution, saying it was important to practise social distancing and wear masks to fight the virus.

“The danger of corona is far from being over. At many places, it is spreading fast,” Modi said. “We need to be extra vigilant.”

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Saudi Arabia

Health Ministry of Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday the registration of 1,968 coronavirus cases, bringing the accumulated infections to 266,941. 

The recoveries rose to 220,323 after the registration of 2,541 new recovered cases. 

The death toll reached 2,733 with 30 new fatalities in the last of 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the ministry announced on Sunday various steps to protect the safety of pilgrims.

The procedures aim to ensure a healthy and safe Hajj season amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 481 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 50,369.

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

South Korea

South Korea reported 25 more cases of the COVID-19 as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 14,175.

The daily caseload fell below 30 in a week, but it continued to grow in double digits due to small cluster infections and imported cases.

Of the new cases, 16 were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 2,306.

One more death was confirmed, leaving the death toll at 299. The total fatality rate stood at 2.11 percent.

A total of 15 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 12,905. The total recovery rate was 91.0 percent.

Indonesia 

Indonesia surpassed 100,000 cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, reporting 1,525 new infections to take the total number to 100,303, data from the country’s Health Ministry website showed.

The number of deaths in the nation related to COVID-19 also increased by 57, to bring the total to 4,838, the data showed.

The new milestone comes a week after President Joko Widodo overhauled Indonesia’s COVID-19 committee to also focus on economic recovery along with handling health aspects.

Mongolia

A total of 264 Mongolian nationals returned from Europe aboard a chartered flight to the Mongolian capital on Monday amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the State Emergency Commission (SEC).

The repatriated people include pregnant women, the elderly, children, and those with health, financial or other problems, the SEC said, adding that they will be isolated at designated facilities for 21 days.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Mongolia has evacuated more than 14,500 nationals from several countries, according to the commission.

As of Monday, the East Asian country has registered 288 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with no local transmissions or deaths.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea halted entry for travellers from Monday, except those arriving by air, as it tightens curbs against coronavirus infections that have more than doubled over the past week.

The Pacific nation, which had escaped the infection levels of its neighbours since the crisis escalated in March, has recorded fresh cases every day for the past week, says data analysis firm World Healthometer.

It had 23 new virus cases on Sunday, up from just eight infections 10 days ago.

“These now bring the total to 62 confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients in the country, an increase of 49 in just 10 days,” Dr Paison Dakulala, deputy chief of the National Pandemic Response team, said in a statement.

In response, authorities tightened regulations, from border measures to quarantine and ordered the use of masks indoors in the capital, the head of emergency services said.

“Traditional border crossing arrangements are hereby suspended,” David Manning, who is also the police chief, said in a statement distributed on Monday but dated July 23.

PNG has banned such border travel for those from Australia, Indonesia, the federated states of Micronesia and the Solomon Islands.

Inbound passengers must show evidence of a negative virus test in the seven days prior to boarding an aeroplane and must isolate themselves for 14 days on arrival.

Kazakhstan 

Kazakhstan confirmed 1,402 new COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total to 83,122, the country's interdepartmental commission on coronavirus said Monday.

Of the 1,402 new cases, 813 people have shown symptoms and 589 are without symptoms, the commission said.

The daily increase on Sunday was 1,494.

Kazakhstan has tallied 610 deaths from COVID-19. 

Kyrgyzstan 

Kyrgyzstan reported 483 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 33,296.

Ainura Akmatova, head of the public health care department of the country's Health Ministry, told a daily news briefing that of the total cases, 2,683 are medical workers.

She said that 817 COVID-19 patients have recovered over the past day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 21,205.

The virus-related death tally climbed to 1,301, with 24 more recorded in the last 24 hours.