A restaurant prepares delivery meal orders during lockdown due to the continuing spread of the coronavirus in Melbourne, Aug 6, 2020. (ANDY BROWNBILL / AP)

SYDNEY / PHNOM PENH / SINGAPORE / BANGKOK / JERUSALEM / MANILA / BISHKEK / NEW DELHI / SEOUL / ULAN BATOR / JAKARTA - Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, recorded 466 cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday and 12 COVID-19 deaths, though authorities expressed hope for a stabilisation in new infections thanks to strict mobility restrictions.

Victoria is at the centre of a second wave of infections in Australia, accounting for more than two-thirds of the national tally of nearly 21,000.

The southeastern state, of which Melbourne is the capital, has recorded 181 deaths, almost 70% of the Australia’s fatalities from the pandemic.

Neighbouring New South Wales state recorded nine cases on Saturday.

ALSO READ: Virus keeps upper hand in Australia

Bangladesh

Bangladesh's COVID-19 cases rose to over 255,000 on Saturday with about 2,600 new cases reported, and deaths from the virus increased to 3,365.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing on Saturday that "2,611 new COVID-19 positive cases and 32 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

Cambodia

Cambodia confirmed three new imported COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 246, the Health Ministry said a statement.

The new cases were three Cambodian men, aged between 24 and 27, who arrived in the kingdom on July 31 from Pakistan via a connecting flight in Malaysia, the statement said, adding that they were on the same flight with the five positive cases found recently.

India

Total COVID-19 tally in India rose to 2,088,611 even as the number of deaths swelled to 42,518, said the latest data issued by the federal health ministry on Saturday.

An increase of 61,537 new cases and 933 new deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours, the data showed.

Iran

Iran's COVID-19 cases approached 323,000 on Friday. Meanwhile, Iraq reported 3,461 new infections, the highest daily increase, amid the pandemic resurgence.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 2,450 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 322,567.

An Iraqi man, wearing a protective mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands at the entrance of a money exchange office in Sulaimaniyah city in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq on Aug 4, 2020. (SHWAN MOHAMMED / AFP)

Iraq

In Iraq, the tally of coronavirus infections rose to 144,064 after a record 3,461 daily new cases were added.

The country also reported 75 more deaths and 2,172 recovered cases, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 5,236 and the total recoveries to 103,197.

Israel

The number of coronavirus patients in Israel has reached 80,991 with 1,432 new cases, the Ministry of Health said Friday.

According to the ministry, the death toll has risen to 581 with five new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition has risen from 358 to 369, out of 776 currently in hospital.

The number of recoveries reached 55,313, with 1,886 new ones, while the active cases dropped to 25,095.

Indonesia

Indonesia reported 2,277 new coronavirus infections on Saturday and 65 more deaths, data from its health ministry website showed.

This brings the country’s total to 123,503 coronavirus infections and 5,658 deaths, the data showed.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan recorded 425 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing the total number of infections to 39,587, according to the country's health ministry.

Among the new cases, 10 are medical workers, bringing the caseload of infected medical workers to 2,938, said Ainura Akmatova, head of the ministry's public health care department, during a daily news briefing.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 682 new cases, bringing the country's total number of infections to 70,727, of whom 471 have died and 62,330 recovered.

Lebanon

Lebanon has confirmed a record high of 279 new COVID-19 cases across the country in the past 24 hours till Friday after two massive blasts here left hospitals overwhelmed.

The number of COVID-19 infections has reached 5,951, while the death toll stood at 70, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Mongolia

Mongolia brought back 257 nationals from Japan on a chartered flight Friday, the country's State Emergency Commission (SEC) said Saturday.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported seven new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, bringing the national total to 9,070.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that six cases are imported and one more is a local transmission.

Oman

Oman's Ministry of Health announced 354 new infections, raising the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 81,067, including 502 deaths and 72,263 recoveries.

The number of coronavirus patients in Israel has reached 80,991 with 1,432 new cases.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 581 while the recoveries rose to 55,313.

Palestine

Palestine reported 514 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 17,948, including 9,543 recoveries and 97 deaths.

Qatar

In Qatar, 291 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 112,383, including 180 deaths and 109,142 recoveries.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 242 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 54,797.

Of the new cases, six are imported cases, one is community cases and the rest are linked with the dormitories of foreign workers.

Of the new cases, 99 percent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

A woman wearing a face mask to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus takes photos of her friend at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, Aug 5, 2020. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)

South Korea

South Korea reported 43 more cases of the COVID-19 as of 0:00 a.m. Saturday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 14,562.

The daily caseload moved between 20 and 50 in recent days due to small cluster infections and imported cases.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced 1,567 new cases and 38 more deaths, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 285,793 and the death toll to 3,093.

The kingdom also reported 1,859 more recovered patients, taking the total recoveries to 248,948.

Syria

Syria reported 61 new cases, bringing the tally of coronavirus infections in the country to 1,060. 

The Philippines

The Philippines’ health ministry on Saturday reported 4,226 new coronavirus infections and 41 additional deaths.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed infections have risen to 126,885 while deaths have reached 2,209, with bulk of cases and casualties reported in the capital.

The Philippines, with a population of 107 million, leads Southeast Asian nations in the most number of cases and is second to Indonesia in deaths.

Thailand

As Thailand inches towards an 80 days free from community transmission of COVID-19, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Friday said its committee will discuss further easing of lockdown restrictions.

The easing of restrictions would include full resumption of school services, full service on passenger buses, sports competitions with spectators, the return of inflight food served in the plane, and the closing time of entertainment places at 2 am.

READ MORE: Thailand tightens borders over fears of 2nd wave of coronavirus

Turkey

In Turkey, the total number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 238,450 after 1,185 new infections were reported, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

The death toll from the virus in the country rose to 5,813 after 15 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Koca said, adding 1,028 more patients recovered, raising the total recoveries to 221,574.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 216 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 62,061 and the death toll to 356.

The total number of recoveries from the virus in the UAE increased to 56,015 after 276 more fully recovered.