A medics inspects makeshift isolation rooms at Patriot Candrabhaga stadium prepared to become a quarantine facility for people showing symptoms of the COVID-19 amid the new coronavirus outbreak in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept 9, 2020. (ACHMAD IBRAHIM / AP)

SYDENY / DUBAI / AMMAN / ANKARA / JAKARTA - Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, will reinstate wide-scale social restrictions “as soon as possible” because a rise in coronavirus infections threatens to strain its health system, its governor said on Wednesday.

Jakarta has recorded a daily average of over 1,000 new cases this month, and has now registered almost 43,400 infections and 1,330 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to central government data.

The capital will reinstate restrictions similar to those imposed from April until June, when public transport was limited and dining in restaurants was forbidden, and working from offices will be prohibited from Monday, Governor Anies Baswedan said.

The occupancy rate of isolation rooms at 67 COVID-19 referral hospitals in Jakarta is now 77 percent, and the ICU occupancy rate is 83 percent, according to figures released by the city administration this week.

Indonesia has recorded 203,342 coronavirus infections and 8,336 deaths, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia.

A woman takes a walk in Melbourne on Sept 6, 2020 as the state announced an extension to its strict lockdown law while it battles fresh outbreaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Australia

Australia is not worried about AstraZeneca Plc’s decision to put on hold its COVID-19 vaccine trial, its deputy chief medical officer said on Wednesday, as daily cases nudged higher in the country’s coronavirus hot spot.

AstraZeneca on Tuesday said it has paused a late-stage trial of one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates after an unexplained illness in a study participant.

The nature of the case and when it happened were not detailed, although the participant is expected to recover, according to Stat News, which first reported the news.

Australia’s coronavirus hot spot of Victoria on Wednesday, meanwhile, reported its biggest rise in daily cases in three days as the state boosted its contact tracing programme to ease the spread of the virus.

Victoria, which is at the centre of Australia’s second wave of coronavirus outbreak, now accounts for about 75 percent of Australia’s 26,450 COVID-19 cases and 90 percent of its 781 deaths.

The state reported 76 new cases and 11 deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry registered 24 new COVID-19 positive cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 38,544 since the outbreak of the virus in February in the country, a statement of the ministry said Wednesday.

According to the statement, two patients affected with the virus had died over the period, totaling the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 1,420 since February.

India

India’s fatalities from coronavirus infections are creeping up after the country surpassed Brazil to have the world’s second-highest number of cases.

India has reported more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 for eight consecutive days. That’s higher than the daily death toll in other hard-hit nations like the US, Brazil, Russia and Mexico. With almost 74,000 virus-related deaths, India has the world’s third-most people killed by the virus.

India will begin a third phase trial of a COVID-19 vaccine from the University of Oxford next week. The vaccine is already in early-stage human trials in Australia.

READ MORE: Malaysia reports sharpest spike in new virus cases in 3 months

Iraq

In Iraq, the health ministry reported 4,894 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 269,578, while the death soared to 7,657 with 68 new deaths confirmed.

The ministry also reported 3,465 more recoveries in the day, bringing the total recoveries to 206,324. The ministry's spokesman Sayf al-Badr said that 90 percent of the infections in Iraq are in mild-to-moderate conditions, as the recovery rate is more than 76 percent.

Israel

Israel on Tuesday reported 3,590 new COVID-19 cases and 14 more fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 137,565 and death toll to 1,040. The total recoveries rose to 107,003 with the addition of 1,548 recoveries.

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Jordan

Jordan resumed regular international flights on Tuesday after being suspended for nearly six months because of the novel coronavirus epidemic, officials said.

Jordanian authorities confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in a refugee camp hosting Syrian refugees since the pandemic was first reported in the kingdom, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday.

The two Syrians who were transferred to an isolation site tested positive during random testing done by Jordanian health authorities in the Azraq camp, said Rula Amin, UNHCR spokeswoman for the Middle East and North Africa.

Jordan reported 103 new coronavirus infections, the record daily spike in the country, raising the total COVID-19 cases to 2,581, including 19 deaths. 

Japan

Japan reported 508 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the nation's cumulative total to 73,337 infections, not including those related to a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo earlier in the year.

Osaka Prefecture, in western Japan, the second hardest-hit region by the virus after Tokyo confirmed 63 new cases, bringing its total tally to 9,232 cases.

Tokyo's neighboring prefecture of Kanagawa, meanwhile, reported 106 new infections to total 5,628 cases.

Tokyo, for its added 149 new daily COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, marked the second straight day that cases have topped 100.

According to the metropolitan government's latest figures, infections in the capital of 14 million, however, have remained below the 200-mark for a sixth straight day.

Kuwait

Kuwait on Wednesday reported 838 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 92,082 and the death toll to 552, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Currently, 9,308 patients are receiving treatment, including 89 in ICU, according to the statement.

Lebanon

Lebanon's total number of COVID-19 cases increased by 498 to 21,324 on Tuesday, while the death toll from the virus went up by seven to 207.

Lebanese Interior Ministry said in a statement that Casino Du Liban, pubs, amusement centers and theaters are allowed to reopen on condition that people working or visiting these places wear masks and observe social distancing rules. The ministry also allowed wedding venues to reopen with only 50 percent capacity, while beaches will remain closed in the coming period.

Myanmar

Myanmar reported two more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday morning, bringing the death toll in the country to 12, according to a release from the Health and Sports Ministry.

According to the release, a 51-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman with underlying hypertension and diabetes died of heart failure and acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19 with severe pneumonia on Monday and Wednesday morning.

Ninety-eight more locally-transmitted cases were reported in the country, raising the total number to 1,807, the ministry's figures showed.

New Zealand

New Zealand confirmed six new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, which were all community cases including children.

All six cases have epidemiological links to existing cases and link back to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group in Auckland, the country's largest city, according to the Ministry of Health.

Oman

Omani Health Ministry confirmed 262 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases in the Sultanate to 87,590. The tally of recoveries rose to 82,973 with 168 new recoveries, while the death toll rose by eight to 742.

Palestine

Palestine recorded 717 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of infections in Palestinian territories to 35,518, including 215 deaths and 24,226 recoveries.

PNG

Papua New Guinea's (PNG) total COVID-19 infections surpassed the 500 mark on Tuesday, with six new confirmed cases, taking the overall number to 503, pandemic response authorities said.

Half of the new cases were from the capital of Port Moresby and surrounding area, with the rest scattered across three different provinces, while nationally the number of virus related deaths remained at five.

Qatar

Qatar reported 231 new coronavirus infections, taking the total confirmed COVID-19 cases to 120,579, including 205 deaths and 117,497 recoveries.

Saudi Arabia 

Saudi Arabia reported 781 new COVID-19 cases and 30 more deaths, raising the tally of infections in the kingdom to 322,237 and the death toll to 4,137.

The total recoveries rose to 298,246 after 623 more patients recovered, the Saudi Health Ministry said, adding that there are currently 19,854 active cases, including 1,428 in critical condition.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 75 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 57,166.

Of the new cases, 14 are imported cases, one is a community case and the rest are linked with the dormitories of foreign workers.

On Wednesday, 31 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 56,492 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, the ministry said.

There are currently 34 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

South Korea

South Korea added 156 more coronavirus cases in 24 hours versus 136 a day earlier, according to data from Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The number of confirmed cases remained below 200 for a seventh day. Total number of confirmed cases rose to 21,588. The total death tally rose by three to 344.

The impact of continued stricter social distancing rules will become more visible next week, Sohn said. A further extension of stricter measures may not be needed if citizens cooperate with social-distancing rules for the next five days and the virus is contained, Sohn said.

The Philippines

Philippines is moving toward further economic re-opening as it shifts from total avoidance to management of coronavirus risks, acting Economic Planning chief Karl Chua says at live-streamed Senate budget hearing.

Economic managers propose further reviving public transport to help people go back to work. The government is changing its policy stance to balance saving lives from COVID-19 and averting hunger.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 245,143 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,176 new cases on Wednesday.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 185,543 after 376 more patients recovered.

Meanwhile, 70 more patients died from the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 3,986.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates announced 644 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 75,098, including 391 deaths and 66,943 recoveries.

Turkey

Turkey on Tuesday announced further measures to curb the pandemic's spread as the tally of COVID-19 cases surged by 1,761 to to 283,270 and the death toll climbed to 6,782 with the addition of 52 new fatalities.

The government announced on Tuesday it was scaling back plans to reopen schools later this month, with only the youngest pupils beginning classes at first, for up to two days a week.

Fatalities from the coronavirus have jumped to their highest since mid-May when lockdowns were in place.

The government has said it does not plan to reintroduce a full lockdown but has urged Turks to follow social distancing and hygiene measures to curb the virus. Masks have been made mandatory.

Vietnam

Vietnam reported five new cases of COVID-19 infection on Wednesday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,059 and 35 deaths from the disease so far, according to its Ministry of Health.

The five new cases have recently entered Vietnam from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry, noting that their ages range from four to 60.