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Tuesday, August 25, 2020, 22:49
Thai cabinet approves extension of emergency through Sept 30
By Agencies
Tuesday, August 25, 2020, 22:49 By Agencies

Two shop assistants wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the coronavirus arrange items for sale at a duty-free shop at the departure area of Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug 21, 2020. (ROMEO GACAD / AFP)

GAZA / CAIRO / SEOUL / SINGAPORE / MUMBAI - Thailand’s Cabinet has approved a one-month extension of the state of emergency through Sept 30 to control the COVID-19 outbreak as the nation seeks to prolong its streak of going three months without a local transmission.

The Cabinet’s move was in line with the proposal from a panel that handles the nation’s COVID-19 outbreak, according to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri. The powers under the state of emergency, and its fifth extension since the initial order in March, allow the government to act quickly in case of a crisis, he said.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s Cabinet also approved a budget of 1 billion baht (US$32 million) to support production of a vaccine.

The Ministry of Public Health told the media that a blueprint for obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine had already been approved by the National Vaccine Committee since April 22.

The country is expected to have access to the vaccine either later this year or around the middle of next year at the latest, according to Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha.

Thailand has had success in containing the outbreak but remains at risk of a second wave of COVID-19 if the country is to reopen to international tourism to revive the economy, said deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul. 

Thailand is inching towards a 90-day free of local transmission. The country's infection tally stood at 3,402 as of Tuesday.

Australia

The Australian state at the center of the country’s coronavirus second wave on Tuesday reported 148 new COVID-19 cases, more than the previous day but well down from peak levels, and eight deaths.

The majority of new cases reported in recent weeks were in the city of Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city and the capital of Victoria state.

Australia surpassed 25,000 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, prompting a warning from authorities about declining test numbers.

Melbourne is just over halfway through a six-week strict lockdown imposed by officials, which requires residents to remain at home unless on essential business. Businesses have been forced to close and a nightly curfew imposed.

Premier Daniel Andrews is attempting to push legislation through state parliament to extend Victoria’s state of emergency declaration by another year, which would give him the ability to extend or reimpose restrictions over that period.

READ MORE: South Korea warns of ‘massive’ coronavirus risk

Fiji

Fiji reported Tuesday its second COVID-19 death, a 61-year-old man who returned to the nation on a repatriation flight from Sacramento, the United States, on Aug. 6.

Fiji's Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary James Fong confirmed the death on Tuesday, saying that the patient, who had been in border quarantine where he tested positive for COVID-19, died on Monday night.

India

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India surged to 3,167,323, while the death toll reached 58,390, showed the latest data released by the health ministry on Tuesday.

As many as 60,975 new cases and 848 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours across the country.

There are 704,348 active cases in the country, while 2,404,585 have been cured and discharged from hospitals, added the ministry data.

Amid the race to develop a vaccine, the health ministry said India was in conversation with Russia regarding Sputnik-V, its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

Indonesia

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 2,447 within one day to 157,859, with the death toll adding by 99 to 6,858, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.

According to the ministry, 1,807 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 112,867.

Iraq

3,644 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Iraq during the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide infections to 207,985.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Iraq rose to 6,519 after 91 fatalities were added.

The Iraqi Health Ministry said that it has treated some 15,000 COVID-19 infections with plasma extracted from the blood of the recovered people since the outbreak of the virus.

Israel

In Israel, 1,809 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, taking the tally of coronavirus infections to 104,472.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 847 while the recoveries rose to 81,642.

Japan

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Tuesday that the novel coronavirus situation in Japan’s capital is improving and she’s still intent on the city hosting the Olympics next year.

“I think the situation is much better than before,” Koike said in an interview with Reuters Television. “We will do our best to prevent coronavirus infections here in Japan and also to welcome the athletes from all over the world.”

Daily cases had soared past 400 a day amid increased testing. New cases have trended lower in the past week, and were at 187 in Tokyo on Tuesday. 

Koike said Tokyo has established many concrete measures to combat contagion, but the arrival and distribution of effective vaccines is an “essential factor” that still has to be determined before the Games can go on.

Japan on Tuesday confirmed 716 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nation's cumulative total to 64,000 cases.

Jordan

In Jordan, 30 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths were recorded, increasing the tally of cases to 1,639 and the death toll to 14. 

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 infections increased by 457 to 13,155, while the death toll went up by three to 126.

Myanmar

Humanitarian workers battling the novel coronavirus in Myanmar’s Rakhine State have urged authorities to restore high-speed internet access to help tackle rising infections in an area where tens of thousands of people have been displaced.

The region has seen the fastest spread of the coronavirus in Myanmar in recent months with more than 80 confirmed cases out of the country’s total of 474.

Citing security, Myanmar has curbed internet access in large swathes of the area, where many people live in camps due to fighting between the army and ethnic minority insurgents.

New Zealand

New Zealand confirmed seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, all related to the community outbreak in Auckland, the country's largest city.

There are no new imported cases reported over the past 24 hours, according to a health ministry statement.

Of the seven community cases, four are linked to churches in Auckland, and three are separate household contacts, the statement said.

This brings New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases to 1,339, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization.

Oman

Oman's Ministry of Health announced 740 new cases of infections, raising the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 84,509, including 637 deaths and 78,912 recoveries.

A member of the Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas, wearing a protective face mask, monitors shoppers queuing for bread following an official announcement calling for the closure of public spaces across the city due to new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, in Gaza City, late on August 24, 2020. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

Palestine

A lockdown took hold in Gaza on Tuesday after confirmation of the first cases of COVID-19 in the general population of the Palestinian enclave, whose restricted borders have spared it from wide infection.

A government spokesman said four cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in a single family in a refugee camp, the first in Gaza that did not involve people quarantined in border facilities after crossing into the coastal enclave from Egypt and Israel.

The ministry said there have been 110 cases of the coronavirus inside border quarantine facilities and one death since the world pandemic began.

With businesses, schools and mosques ordered shuttered late on Monday for at least 48 hours, Gaza’s streets were largely deserted. But some people scrambled to buy essentials in groceries and bakeries, a limited number of which were open.

Palestine reported 553 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 25,588, including 16,210 recoveries and 147 deaths.

Qatar

In Qatar, 258 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 117,266, including 194 deaths and 114,099 recoveries.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced 1,175 new cases and 42 more deaths, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 308,654 and the death toll to 3,691.

The kingdom also reported 2,745 more recovered patients, taking the total recoveries to 282,888.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey climbed by 1,443 to 259,692, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

The death toll from the coronavirus in the country rose to 6,139 after 18 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Koca said, adding that the total recoveries increased to 237,908.

ALSO READ: Indonesia on alert over spike of COVID-19 cases in EU, Asia

A mother and her daughter walk on their way to an elementary school in Seoul on August 25, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority ordered a stop to activities at some construction work sites after a new COVID-cluster was found at the country’s largest foreign worker dormitory, raising concerns of a resurgence in virus infections.

A total of 58 cases were identified in the Sungei Tengah Lodge, which houses approximately 16,000 people. All individuals were asymptomatic and were detected through various screening procedures, according to a joint statement from Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Health. Another 4,800 workers from the same dormitory have been placed on stay-home notices as a precaution.

Singapore’s health ministry reported 31 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the city-state’s lowest daily count since March 22, taking the tally to 56, 408. 

Most of the new infected cases are linked to migrant outbreaks while one is imported case. No new community transmission has been reported.  The toll remains at 27. 

Office workers wearing face masks enter a building during lunchtime in the financial business district in Singapore on August 11, 2020. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

South Korea

Kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools in the greater Seoul area are ordered to shift to online classes from partial attendance to schools amid the resurgence of the coronavirus, South Korean Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae says in a briefing.

Over the past two weeks, at least 150 students and 43 school staff have tested positive in the greater Seoul area, Yoo Eun-hae said.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 280 new coronavirus cases as of midnight Monday, bringing the country’s total to 17,945 with 310 deaths.

With most of the new cases centred in the densely populated capital area, however, health authorities say the country is on the brink of a nation-wide outbreak and have called on people to stay home and limit travel.

The rising number of confirmed coronavirus cases poses a burden on South Korea’s economy, which had shown signs of a recovery in consumption, production and investment, Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said in a meeting earlier.

Infections in the capital areas may have peaked over the past weekend, Joo Young-su at Korea’s National Medical Center and COVID -19 joint response team, said in briefing on Tuesday.

Syria

The Syrian Constitutional Committee, which began its first session in nine months in Geneva on Monday as part of efforts to find a political solution to end Syria’s war, was swiftly put “on hold” after three members tested positive for COVID-19, the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria said on Monday in a statement issued in Geneva.

According to the UN envoy's office, the Syrian committee members were tested before they traveled to Geneva, and were tested again on arrival.

The session, organised by UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen, is aimed at making make progress in drafting a new Syrian charter to pave the way for UN-sponsored elections, in line with a stalled 2015 UN Security Council resolution.

The Philippines

The Philippine health ministry on Tuesday reported 2,965 additional novel coronavirus infections and 34 more deaths.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases have risen to 197,164, a fifth of which were reported in the past 10 days, while deaths have reached 3,038.

The Philippines’ House of Representatives on Monday approved the final version of a 165.5 billion-peso (US$3.4 billion) pandemic relief bill that would provide subsidies to the unemployed, assistance to businesses and loan repayment extension to borrowers.

The measure, now up for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature after it was approved by the Senate earlier, will also provide funds to hire more emergency health workers and at least 50,000 contact tracers as the country battles Southeast Asia’s largest coronavirus outbreak.

Turkey

Turkey's COVID-19 cases increased by 1,443 to a total of 259,692 on Monday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

Meanwhile, 18 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 6,139, Koca tweeted.

Turkish health professionals conducted 95,943 tests in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests to 6,423,409, he said.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 275 new cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 67,282.

The tally of recoveries in the UAE rose to 58,582 after 94 more patients have recovered from the virus and the death toll reached 376 with one more death.

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