A sign in Federation Square urges people to wear a mask in the central business district in Melbourne on Aug 6, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

CAIRO - Australia took the first step to reopening its international border on Friday, announcing that New Zealanders will be allowed to visit parts of the country without having to undergo quarantine.

From Oct 16, New Zealanders will be able to visit New South Wales state, which is home to Sydney, and the Northern Territory, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told reporters. “We want to open Australia up to the world,” he said. “This is the first part of it.”

Australia closed its borders in March in an effort to control the coronavirus, and returning citizens and residents have to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine under tight security. While the nation has largely controlled community transmission, other than a resurgence in Victoria state, the border closure has decimated international tourism and also crushed a university sector that’s grown increasingly reliant on overseas students.

It’s a picture repeated elsewhere in the world, and other nations have been trying to open travel bubbles to boost their economies, even as they grapple with new waves of the virus.

While shares in Air New Zealand Ltd and Qantas Airways Ltd rallied on the news Friday, it’s only an incremental step to reopening and falls short of the “trans-Tasman bubble” envisaged between the two neighbors.

New Zealand, which eliminated local community transmission earlier this year and swiftly brought a more limited outbreak in Auckland under control, is keeping its border shuttered. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made clear that if her countryfolk do travel to Australia, they will have to quarantine on their return home. Indeed, she has urged them to spend their tourist dollars in New Zealand instead.

Shares in Air New Zealand rose as much as 7.2 percent in Wellington trading, the most in three months. Qantas reversed losses to trade 1.7 percent higher at 2:26 pm in Sydney.

Iran

Iran's total number of COVID-19 cases exceeded 460,000 on Thursday.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, reported 3,825 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 461,044.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, reported 3,825 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 461,044

The pandemic has so far claimed 26,380 lives in Iran, up by 211 in the past 24 hours, while the tally of recoveries rose to 383,368. Currently, 4,121 Iranian patients remained in intensive care units.

Iraq

Iraq reported 4,493 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 367,474. The death toll rose by 50 to 9,231, while the tally of recoveries soared by 3,685 to 295,882.

Iraqi Health Ministry revealed that it plans to establish 20 new COVID-19 testing labs to increase the country's testing capacity in order to contain the pandemic's fast spread.

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"The current number of coronavirus testing laboratories in the country is 40, and the ministry is planning to establish 20 more labs during the current month," Duraid Qasim Jasim, director of the Health Ministry's Laboratories, told the official Iraqi News Agency.

Israel

Israel on Thursday recorded 7,996 new COVID-19 cases and 53 more deaths, pushing the country's coronavirus tally to 253,490 and the death toll to 1,622.

The tally of recoveries in Israel rose by 4,962 to 179,468, according to the data released by the Israeli Health Ministry.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it will establish COVID-19 wards at a northern Israeli hospital for treating civilian patients for a month. Currently, the IDF is operating a testing lab and about 30 hotels for coronavirus patients or those who need quarantine.

Turkey 

In Turkey, 1,407 new COVID-19 cases and 67 more deaths were recorded, taking the total infections in the country to 320,070 and the death toll to 8,262. The tally of recoveries in Turkey rose by 1,402 to 281,151.

Turkish officials on Thursday asked all residents to present a "health code" to access all kinds of urban public transport and accommodation facilities.

Starting from early Thursday, local Turkish officials, along with the police, conducted wide-scale inspections across the country to monitor compliance with the new health code rule.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 492 new COVID-19 cases and 26 more deaths on Thursday, pushing the tally of infections in the kingdom to 335,097 and the death toll to 4,794.

The total number of recoveries in the kingdom rose by 592 to 319,746, the Saudi Health Ministry said.

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday announced 1,158 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 95,348 and the death tally to 421.

At the same time, 1,179 more patients have recovered from the virus, taking the tally of recoveries in the UAE to 84,903, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention said.

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Lebanon

Lebanon's number of COVID-19 cases increased on Thursday by 1,248 to 40,882, while the death toll went up by seven to 374, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

Jordan   

Jordanian Health Ministry reported 1,276 new coronavirus cases, raising the total infections in Jordan to 13,101, including 69 deaths and 4,752 recoveries.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 494 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 105,676 and the death toll to 612.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry said that 509 more patients recovered from the disease, raising the total recoveries in the country to 97,197.

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Qatar

Qatar's Health Ministry announced 199 new COVID-19 infections and 212 more recoveries, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 125,959 and the the total recoveries to 122,911.

Syria

In Syria, the Damascus International Airport reopened for commercial flights on Thursday after months of closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Syrian Aviation Company took strict anti-coronavirus measures, including requiring airport workers to wear masks or protective overalls and spraying disinfectants on the luggage and passengers.

India

India’s coronavirus case tally climbed to 6.39 million after it reported 81,484 new infections in the last 24 hours, while related deaths were just shy of 100,000 mark, data from the health ministry showed on Friday.

Deaths from coronavirus infections rose by 1,095 in the last 24 hours to 99,773, the ministry said.

The South Asian nation, which is second only to the United States in terms of total cases, has a scope for higher infections with a large chunk of the population still unexposed to the virus, a survey showed on Tuesday.

Indonesia 

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 4,317 within one day to 295,499, with the death toll adding by 116 to 10,972, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

According to the ministry, 2,853 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 221,340.

Indonesia is revising a rule banning foreigners from entering the country, as it discusses opening a travel corridor for essential business purposes from Singapore, according to Kompas.

The government is opening travel corridors to allow businesspeople, experts, investors and state officials to enter the country, Kompas newspaper reported, citing Yasonna Laoly, minister of law and human rights. Indonesia is in talks with Singapore, after agreeing to arrangements with the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and China.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy has banned the entry of foreigners since April as it seeks to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, with exemptions given to those with long-term passes including a work permit.

An electronic visa service for travel under the corridor arrangement will be available from Oct 15, and there will be special booths for Singapore travelers entering through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Batam island, Laoly said in the report.

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan on Friday reported five new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 39,290, the country's Ministry of Public Health confirmed.

"During the past 24 hours, 211 suspected cases were tested, out of which five cases were tested coronavirus positive in Kabul, Zabul and Daykundi provinces of the country's 34 provinces," the ministry said in a statement.

No patient died during the period, and the number of people who lost their lives to the disease remained at 1,458 since the outbreak of the pandemic in Afghanistan in February.

The number of people recovered stands at 32,842 after no new recovery was registered since early Thursday.

The ministry has conducted 111,521 tests since February, according to statistics of the ministry.  

The Philippines

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 316,678 after the Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,611 new daily cases on Friday.

Friday's new daily cases recorded means that the Philippines' daily increase in virus infections has been below 3,000 for the fourth consecutive day.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 254,617 after 416 more patients recovered. Meanwhile, 56 more patients died from the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 5,616.

The Philippines' capital Metro Manila topped the regions in the country with the highest number of daily confirmed cases on Friday with 1,084.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country's healthcare system capacity has "improved tremendously" since the start of the outbreak.