A bread vendor passes by a coronavirus-themed mural in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sep 10, 2020. (TATAN SYUFLANA / AP)

TOKYO / SYDNEY / CAIRO / DUBAI / YANGON / MUSCAT / ULAN BATOR / DHAKA / KUWAIT CITY - Indonesia’s coronavirus cases jumped by a record on Thursday as the capital prepares to return to tougher movement restrictions to stem infections.

The National Disaster Management Agency reported 3,861 COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to midday of Sept 10, with 120 more deaths. A total of 207,203 people in the world’s fourth most-populous nation had been infected, including 8,456 in total fatalities.

Nearly a third of the cases came from Jakarta which reported 1,274 new infections and 17 deaths on Thursday. The recent spike in the capital has put a strain on its medical infrastructure, forcing the provincial government to resume large-scale social distancing restrictions from Sept 14.

Indonesia’s government will increase the capacity of hospitals and health facilities after an increase in COVID-19 cases, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto told a press briefing on Thursday. The plan includes using rooms in an athlete’s village in Jakarta and low-star hotels for self-isolation facilities.

ALSO READ: Indonesia's capital to reimpose restrictions over coronavirus

Australia

Australia’s conservative government clashed with state lawmakers on Thursday over how fast to relax social distancing restrictions, as the number of new COVID-19 cases showed a steady decline.

Australia in March created a national cabinet which includes federal, state and territory leaders to coordinate measures to stop the disease spreading, closing international and domestic borders, suspending schools and closing businesses.

The steps taken have helped Australia record far fewer COVID-19 infections and deaths than many other developed nations, and the divisions in the national cabinet are emerging at time when the infection rate is coming down.

On Thursday, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Victoria - the epicentre of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak - should consider lifting a night curfew, just days after the state kept the curfew among other tough measures extended until Sept. 28.

And Queenland’s state premier snapped back at Prime Minister Scott Morrison, after he chided the state for refusing to let a woman from a virus-free part of the country attend the funeral of her father.

Australia on Thursday reported 58 new cases in the past 24 hours, down on the 76 infections detected on Wednesday.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported 1,892 new COVID-19 cases and 41 new deaths on Thursday, making the tally at 332,970 and death toll at 4,634, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 15,559 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across the country.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 233,550, including 2,746 new recoveries on Thursday, said the DGHS.

India

The Indian company enlisted to manufacture a billion doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is pausing its own clinical trial, after earlier declaring it would push ahead despite safety concerns forcing the British drugmaker to halt its tests.

The Serum Institute of India halted its Indian trials after receiving a notice from the Drug Controller General of India seeking information on the illness of a person participating in Astra’s trials in Britain, the company said in an emailed statement. The regulator asked Serum to demonstrate why its clinical trial license should not be suspended until the safety of the vaccine is established, according to a report from the Press Trust of India.

“We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials till AstraZeneca restarts the trials,” the company said in its statement. “We are following DCGI’s instructions and will not be able to comment further on trials.”

The DCGI couldn’t be reached for a comment.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has tested positive for COVID-19, the mayor said in a tweet on Thursday. Her rapid antigen test came positive while she claimed herself to be asymptomatic.

India reported record jumps in new coronavirus infections and deaths on Thursday, taking its tally of cases past 4.4 million, health ministry figures showed.

In the last 24 hours, 95,735 new infections were detected, with 1,172 deaths accounting for the highest single-day mortality figures in more than a month, to push the toll beyond 75,000.

Infections are growing faster in India than anywhere else in the world and the United States is the only nation worse affected.

Iran

In Iran, the hardest hit country in the Middle East, the overall number of coronavirus cases has grown to 393,425 after 2,313 new infections were detected in the past 24 hours, while the pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 22,669 Iranians, up by 127 in the past 24 hours, according to Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian health ministry.

She said 1,229 patients were hospitalized because of complications from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, while 3,735 remain in critical condition.

It is worth noting that 13 Iranian provinces remain in high-risk condition.

Iraq

Iraq reported 4,243 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily increase among the Middle East states.

Iraq has so far confirmed 273,821 coronavirus cases in the country with few tangible signs of pandemic slowdown.

It also reported 75 fatalities on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 7,732, while 3,669 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 209,993.

Ryadh Abdul-Amir, head of the Public Health Department in the Iraqi Health Ministry, noted 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in Iraq are mild with a good increase in the number of recoveries relative to the infections.

Israel

Israel will hold first trials of a COVID-19 vaccine with 100 volunteers, Sheba Medical Center in central Israel said on Thursday.

The trials are scheduled to begin in October at Sheba hospital and Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, both selected for the task because they have large centers for clinical trials.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 3,532 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total infections in the country to 141,097, while the death toll from the virus rose to 1,054, with 14 new fatalities added.

In the light of the coronavirus crisis, the unemployment rate in Israel has hit 18.3 percent, with more than 746,000 losing their jobs, according to the data released by the Israeli Employment Service.

People wearing masks against the spread of the new coronavirus walk at Shibuya pedestrian crossing Sept 9. 2020 in Tokyo. (PHOTO / AP)

Japan

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s expert panel on the coronavirus said it was lowering the virus alert in the city one notch from what had been the highest level. Infections have been falling in Tokyo from peaks reached about a month ago.

The capital raised the alert to “red” in July on the advice of experts following a rise in infections. Tokyo’s daily cases have gradually declined since hitting a peak of 472 cases in early August, with 149 new cases reported on Wednesday.

Separately at a national level, a group of experts will convene on Friday to consider easing of restrictions on large-scale events. That follows appeals from Japan’s top baseball and soccer leagues, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters on Thursday.

The government will also consider adding Tokyo to its “Go To Travel” subsidised domestic tourism campaign, following its exclusion after becoming a coronavirus hotspot.

The campaign was criticised for potentially facilitating the spread of the virus.

Jordan

In Jordan the number of COVID-19 cases Wednesday rose by 77 and to 2,659.

Kuwait

Kuwait on Thursday reported 740 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 92,822 and the death toll to 556, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Currently, 9,226 patients are receiving treatment, including 90 in ICU, according to the statement.

Mongolia

Mongolia has reported two more COVID-19 recoveries, taking its total to 298, the country's health ministry said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the country conducted 799 tests for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, all of which showed negative results, the ministry added.

A health worker gestures to a man (right) receiving a checkup on a mobile health clinic on a bus during a medical checkup and contact tracing campaign in Yangon on September 9, 2020, as authorities work to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (YE AUNG THU / AFP)

Myanmar

Myanmar increased lockdown measures in its biggest city on Thursday after reporting another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, with 120 new infections taking its overall cases past the 2,000 mark.

Health authorities expanded a stay-at-home order to nearly half of the townships in greater Yangon, a city of at least 5 million people, where most of the new infections were found.

The country has now reported a total of 2,009 COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths, with infections quadrupling since a month ago, when the virus resurfaced in the western state of Rakhine after weeks without a domestic case.

That prompted authorities to close schools nationwide and re-impose some restrictions that had earlier been eased.

The Government has ordered people not to travel other than in an emergency. Domestic airlines also announced that their services were suspended until the end of September.

Curbs on entry into Yangon and the capital Naypyitaw were also in place.

Authorities said offices, factories and government institutions would remain open in Yangon and workers would be exempt from the order to stay home.

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

New Zealand

New Zealand confirmed four new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, including two community cases linked to the Auckland family cluster in August and two imported cases detected at managed isolation facilities.

Oman

The Omani health ministry on Thursday announced 398 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the sultanate to 88,337, official Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

Meanwhile, 219 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall number of recoveries to 83,325, while 11 more died from the virus, raising the death toll to 762, according to a ministry statement quoted by ONA.

Palestine

Palestine reported on Wednesday 696 new COVID-19 cases and two fatalities, raising the total number of infections in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem to 36,214 and the death toll to 217.

In a press statement, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila, warned that the spread of the virus in the densely populated areas in the besieged Gaza Strip "has become too dangerous for the entire society of the coastal enclave."

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry on Wednesday announced 267 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the Gulf state to 120,846, official Qatar News Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 775 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, raising the total cases in the kingdom to 323,012, continuing a positive trend as what the Saudi Ministry of Health said.

The Saudi ministry also reported 28 more deaths and 720 new recovered cases, increasing the death toll to 4,165 and the total recoveries to 298,966.

Singapore

Singapore says that the new infection clusters emerging among more than 300,000 workers living in dormitories are due to many of them not being exposed to the virus yet.

The new cases in these accommodations that were previously declared clear of the virus were also not picked up by earlier tests as the virus was incubating, and had not yet reached the concentration that could be detected, according to Second Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng.

South Korea

South Korea reported 155 more cases of COVID-19 as of 12:00 a.m. Thursday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 21,743.

The daily caseload stayed below 200 for eight straight days, but it continued to grow in triple digits since Aug. 14.

 It was attributed to cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province linked to church services and a massive rally held in central Seoul on Aug. 15.

Thaland

The Thai tourism agency is pursuing a plan to allow foreigners from countries with low coronavirus infection risks to visit the Southeast Asian nation without a mandatory quarantine. The waiver will be aimed at Asian travelers who usually don’t stay for more than two weeks, Thai language newspaper Khaosod reported, citing Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The Philippines

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 248,947 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,821 new cases on Thursday.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 186,058 after 563 more patients have recovered.

The DOH added that 80 more patients have died from the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 4,066.

The UAE

As the first among the Gulf countries to report COVID-19 cases, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday announced 883 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 75,981.

The UAE health ministry also reported 416 more recoveries from the virus, taking the tally of recoveries in the UAE to 67,359.

Turkey

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported 1,673 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 284,943.

In addition, 55 people died in the past 24 hours from the virus, taking the death toll to 6,837, while the number of the total recoveries has risen to 254,188.

The largest Turkish city of Istanbul on Wednesday adopted a series of new restrictions as part of the government's efforts to stem the surging daily COVID-19 cases, including the mandatory wearing of face masks in public places all the time with no exception.

Yemen

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces increased to 1,999 on Wednesday after five new ones were detected. 

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries in the government-controlled areas increased to 1,209 since the outbreak of the coronavirus on April 10, the Health Ministry said in a brief press statement.

The ministry also said the death toll from the respiratory disease climbed to 576.