This picture taken on Sept 29, 2020 shows an airport worker wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus as she walks past an illuminated sign at the Sydney International Airport in Sydney. (DAVID GRAY / AFP)

MMAN / DUBAI / JERUSALEM / TOKYO / ANKARA - Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that an Australia-New Zealand travel bubble will launch "very soon."

Morrison said on Thursday that the bubble will open on a "one-way" basis with travelers from New Zealand allowed to enter Australia

Morrison said on Thursday that the bubble will open on a "one-way" basis with travelers from New Zealand allowed to enter Australia.

He said that the scheme would provide a significant boost for Australia's struggling tourism industry with states and territories that have opened their domestic borders set to benefit.

"I think we'll be able to move on that very soon. It's more likely in the first instance to be a one way bubble i.e. New Zealanders being able to travel to Australia," Morrison told South Australian radio station FIVEaa.

"I would see South Australia, along with New South Wales, in the front end of that arrangement because they've taken their borders down."

As of Thursday afternoon, there had been 27,096 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the number of new cases in last 24 hours was 19.

The national death toll has risen to 888 after two new deaths were reported in Victoria, the hardest-hit state by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Also on Thursday, the Australian government announced a 1.5-billion-Australian-dollar (US$1.07 billion) investment in manufacturing to accelerate the nation's recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

In a pre-budget speech, Morrison identified space, defense, clean energy and recycling, medical products, food and beverages, resources technology and critical minerals processing as the six sectors that represent the future of manufacturing in Australia.

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk past street vendors in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sept. 28, 2020. (IAN TEH / BLOOMBERG)

Malaysia

Malaysian authorities warned of a new wave of coronavirus after 260 new infections were reported on Thursday, the biggest daily spike since early June, following an election in the country’s second-largest state Sabah.

Malaysia has largely avoided a massive outbreak thanks to strict early lockdowns but daily new infections have climbed in the past week, after an increase in travelers to Sabah ahead of its state elections last Saturday.

Thursday’s rise was the second-largest since the start of the pandemic, which peaked at 277 daily cases on June 4.

The government has banned travel between districts in Sabah to curb the spread of infections in the state that’s forming a new government

Director-general of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah said the increase in cases could be seen as “the beginning of a new wave” and urged the public to continue practicing social distancing and avoid leaving their homes unless necessary.

“It is up to us now to flatten the curve. We have done it before and we can do it again,” he told a news conference.

The Southeast Asian country has reported a total of 11,484 cases of the virus so far, including 136 deaths.

Resurgent virus cases could prompt Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to rethink his plan to call for a snap election. Politicians from both sides of the aisle have been calling for national polls to resolve the political uncertainty, which was worsened after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he has the majority support to form a government.

Holding a general election soon would be “irresponsible,” Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Thursday. “It is not a good idea.”

Meanwhile, the government has banned travel between districts in Sabah to curb the spread of infections in the state that’s forming a new government. The campaign leading up to the polls was dogged by politicians testing positive for coronavirus and a few candidates choosing to quarantine themselves.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 4,691 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 362,981.

The ministry reported in a statement 59 new deaths from the infectious disease, taking the death toll to 9,181. Meanwhile, 3,385 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 292,197.

Jawad al-Musawi, a member of the Iraqi parliamentary health committee, expected that Iraq will witness a new wave of COVID-19 infections during October and November.

Al-Musawi added that the Iraqi authorities might reimpose a full curfew if the number of infections rises to the point the ministry cannot control.

READ MORE: Israel's Netanyahu says virus lockdown to last at least a month

India

India reported another 86,821 coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed number to 6.31 million, government data showed. Covid-19 related deaths rose to 98,678.

Indonesia

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 4,174 within one day to 291,182, with the death toll adding by 116 to 10,856, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the ministry, 3,540 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 218,487.

Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a meeting of his coronavirus cabinet on Wednesday that the exit from the COVID-19 lockdown is expected to last six to 12 months.

"The exit from this lockdown will be slow and gradual and it can last from half a year to a year," he said.

Local media also reported that the prime minister called for further restrictions by banning residents from moving more than 200 meters from their homes. The current restrictions set the limit at 1,000 meters.

Israel posted a record 8,919 new coronavirus cases in a single day, the Health Ministry said, following a dip in numbers due to low testing over the long weekend, which included the Yom Kippur holiday. 

The new infections brought the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to over 248,000, including more than 1,500 fatalities. .

Pupils wearing face masks sit in a classroom amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the Oguzkaan private school in Istanbul, on Sept 21, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

Japan

Japan eased entry restrictions into the country on Thursday for foreigners put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19, although entry is still being refused for tourists.

Medical professionals, teachers and others who are qualified for medium or long-term stays for three months or longer will be allowed entry, the government said, with those traveling for business purposes for less than three months also being eligible.

Eligible travelers will have to test negative for COVID-19 before entering and upon arrival in Japan, their sponsors, such as companies or organizations which support them, will be expected to ensure their self-isolation for 14 days, during which time they will not be allowed to use public transport.

The government had said it would consider permitting 1,000 foreigners into the country per day, mainly to accommodate those who intend to stay for three months or longer, while looking to increase the cap in the months ahead.

Japan’s ruling party will consider additional economic stimulus to prop up the economy amid the pandemic, and will compile another extra budget if needed, Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party told the Nikkei in an interview.

Jordan

Jordan warned on Wednesday it could be forced to return to a full lockdown, potentially devastating its fragile economy, after recording 1,767 new cases of COVID-19, its highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak.

The country’s total number of confirmed infections now stands at 11,816, with 61 deaths since the first case surfaced in early March, Health Minister Saad Jaber said in a statement.

Mosques and places of workshop, however, will be allowed to reopen as of Thursday, along with restaurants, but with much stricter health safeguards.

Officials said they will enforce as of Thursday a lockdown of Baqaa camp on the outskirts of the capital, one of the largest Palestinian refugees camps in the Middle East. The camp houses more than 200,000 people, but has recorded many infections.

ALSO READ: Singapore set to lift curbs on Australia, Vietnam visitors

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 614 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 105,182 and the death toll to 610, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also announced the recovery of 639 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 96,688.

Lebanon

Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased by 1,257 cases to 39,634 while the death toll went up by six to 367, the Health Ministry reported.

Health experts have been warning the Lebanese people about the further increase in infections as hospitals' capacity for hosting a big number of patients is limited.

A woman wearing a face mask walks in Ginza district of Tokyo on Sept 29, 2020. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)

New Zealand

New Zealand reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, all detected in managed isolation and imported from overseas.

All of the 12 imported cases have been transferred to a dedicated quarantine facility. There are no new cases in the community, according to the Ministry of Health.

Ten of these cases arrived from India on Sept 26 on flight AI 1354 and had tested positive around day 3 of their time in managed isolation, said a ministry statement.

Oman

Oman called for "equitable distribution of resources" to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as the tally of infections in the sultanate reached 98,585 and the death toll rose to 935.

"The pandemic has brought major changes to our daily life," Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi said during his virtual address to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.

Palestine

A senior Palestinian official announced that the health ministry recorded 426 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem to 50,541.

The health ministry also recorded eight more deaths and 696 recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 41,228 and the death toll to 368, said Mai al-Kaila, Palestinian minister of health.

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry announced 227 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 125,760, while the fatalities remained at 214 for the fifth consecutive day.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday reported 418 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections in the kingdom to 334,605.

The Saudi Ministry of Health also reported 29 new deaths from the disease, taking the death toll to 4,768, while the total number of recoveries increased by 612 to 319,154, while Turkey reported 1,391 new cases, bringing the tally to 318,663, and 65 new deaths, raising the death toll to 8,195.

Singapore

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has quarantined 342 migrant workers in a government facility following the detection of a new COVID-19 case, according to a statement. An investigation found that safe living measures hadn’t been strictly enforced within the affected dormitory block where the case was residing. The 342 dorm residents work for 27 employers.

Singapore is planning to allow so-called cruises to nowhere in what could be among the first of measures to reopen leisure travel in the city-state, the Straits Times reported. The cruises will have a maximum occupancy of 50%, and could give some relief to cruise operators.

South Korea

South Korea reported 77 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 23,889.

The daily caseload fell below 100 after recording 113 in the previous day. The double-digit increase continued amid small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province.

The Philippines

The number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines surged to 314,079 after the Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,415 new daily cases on Thursday.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 254,223 after 771 more patients recovered. Meanwhile, 59 more patients died from the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 5,562.

Metro Manila topped the regions in the country with the highest number of daily confirmed cases on Thursday with 930.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates recorded its highest daily total of coronavirus infections on Thursday since the start of the outbreak, with 1,158 new cases.

The Gulf Arab state had registered a record 1,100 cases in 24 hours on Wednesday. Daily infection numbers have surged over the past two months from 164 on Aug 3. Authorities have blamed people’s poor adherence to social distancing measures.

The UAE has a high per capita rate of COVID-19 tests. The country of around 9.9 million people has carried out 9,798,960 tests so far, the government statistics authority says.

The UAE’s nationwide tally stands at 95,348 infections and 421 deaths. The government does not disclose where in the seven emirates they occur.

Turkey

The Turkish authorities have succeeded in controlling the increase of COVID-19 cases in particular provinces worrying about a surge in the number of patients, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Wednesday.

"We have seen the results of regional interventions in the last three weeks. We have achieved success in many provinces where we had talked about high increases," Koca said at a press conference.

Turkey's daily COVID-19 patients increased by 1,391 on Wednesday, raising the total number in the country to 318,663, the Health Ministry announced.

In addition, 65 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 8,195 in Turkey, while 1,245 more patients recovered, raising the total recoveries to 279,749, according to the ministry's data.