A health worker (right) wearing personal protective equipment collects a swab sample from a resident for a coronavirus test at a temporarory collection center in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad on Oct 1, 2020. (NOAH SEELAM / AFP)

MELBOURNE / ANKARA / DUBAI / RAMALLAH - India’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, only the third country in the world to reach that bleak milestone, after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating.

Total deaths rose to 100,842, the health ministry said, while the tally of infections climbed to 6.47 million after a daily increase in cases of 79,476. India now has the highest rate of daily increase in infections in the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, faced with a collapsing economy after imposing a tough lockdown to try to stem the spread of the virus in late March, is pushing ahead with a full opening of the country.

Cinemas were allowed to re-open at half capacity this week and authorities can decide to re-open schools from the middle of this month.

Heading into winter and the holiday season, including the Hindu festival of Diwali next month, the world’s second most populous country could see a jump in cases, health experts said.

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan on Saturday reported seven new COVID-19 cases after health authorities conducted 59 tests within a day, bringing the number of total cases to 39,297, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.

"During the past 24 hours, seven positive COVID-19 cases were recorded in Kabul, and no new cases were registered in the other provinces," the ministry said in a statement.

Australia

Australia’s state of Victoria has an opportunity to stop community transmission of COVID-19 if its residents stay the course on restrictions imposed on public behavior and social distancing, officials said.

The state had eight new cases in the last 24 hours and three deaths, Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services said in a Twitter post on Saturday morning. The 14-day rolling average in metropolitan Melbourne dropped to 12.

Police in the state of Victoria stepped up patrolling on Saturday as hundreds of people in the city of Melbourne breached stringent lockdown restrictions and flocked to beaches on the warmest weekend in months.

Under the restrictions, nearly five million people in Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, may exercise or socialise outdoors for a maximum of two hours a day, but must stay close to home. People must wear masks in public places.

Victoria has been the center of Australia’s coronavirus outbreak after security failures at quarantine hotels for returned overseas travelers led to a resurgence of community transmission. While a curfew in the state capital was lifted last week, limits on public gatherings of as many as five people still apply until Oct 19.

READ MORE: PM Morrison says Australia-NZ travel to resume 'very soon'

Indonesia

Indonesia looks to vaccinate 160 million people against the coronavirus by the end of next year, an ambitious plan targeting more than half of the population of a nation comprised of thousands of separate islands.

The government will focus its efforts on vaccinating working people in the world’s fourth-most populous country. The plan prioritizes people aged 19 to 59, who make up 70 percent of Indonesia’s 268 million population, as well as those on the front lines of the pandemic, such as health workers, police and military officers, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said in a briefing Friday.

Iran

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased to 464,596 in Iran on Friday. 

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 3,552 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 464,596.

The pandemic has so far claimed 26,567 lives in Iran, up by 187 in the past 24 hours. A total of 385,264 coronavirus patients have recovered, while 4,137 are still in critical condition.

Iraq

4,785 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Iraq during the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide infections to 372,259.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Iraq rose to 9,298 after 67 fatalities were added, while the total recoveries increased to 299,804 as 3,922 more patients recovered.

The Iraqi Health Ministry called on all pilgrims and officials of mosques and shrines to take the necessary precautionary measures to prevent the coronavirus spread during the Arbaeen ritual as thousands of Shiite pilgrims are heading every day from many Iraqi cities to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad.

Israel

In Israel, 5,430 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, taking the tally of coronavirus infections to 258,920.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 1,633 while the recoveries rose to 185,122.

Earlier on the day, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a special assessment regarding the spread of the coronavirus in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox sector, saying that there would be no easing of restrictions in this sector, and he ordered to strengthen the local authorities in dealing with pandemic via government assistance.

Jordan

In Jordan, 549 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, increasing the tally of cases to 13,650 with 79 deaths and 4,929 recoveries.

ALSO READ: Australia announces quarantine-free travel from New Zealand

A man wearing a face mask walks past an outdoor photography exhibition of healthcare workers in Melbourne, Sept 22, 2020. (PHOTO／ AP)

Kazakhstan

The second infectious diseases hospital with 300 beds has been built in Kazakhstan's largest city of Almaty in two months, the press service of the Almaty city hall reported Friday.

The hospital equipped with modern equipment has its own laboratory, where diagnostics of COVID-19 can be carried out.

"In four months, we have built three hospitals equipped with the most modern equipment," the city's Mayor Bakytzhan Sagintayev said during a visit to the hospital.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 411 new cases, bringing the country's total number of infections to 106,087, of whom 615 have died and 97,898 recovered.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 infections increased by 1,291 to 42,173, while the death toll went up by 12 to 386.

Lebanon's Interior Ministry announced on the same day the full shut down of 111 villages due to the spread of the virus in the country.

Public departments and private companies will stop working in these villages while social events will be canceled and only hospitals, supermarkets, bakeries, and pharmacies will continue their operations.

Malaysia

alaysia will not re-impose widespread novel coronavirus restrictions on travel despite a recent spike in infections, which a government minister said was partly caused by migrants from neighbouring countries.

Malaysia reported a record daily increase in novel coronavirus cases for the second day in a row on Saturday, with 317 new infections.

Malaysia has reported a total of 12,088 cases. The health ministry also recorded one new death, raising the total to 137.

Myanmar 

Myanmar reported 32 more fatalities and 1,142 new cases, resulting in the highest single-day surge in COVID-19 deaths and infections, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.

As of Friday, Myanmar had a total of 15,525 cases including 4,378 recoveries and 353 fatalities.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported one new confirmed case of COVID-19 on Saturday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

The person who was tested positive arrived in New Zealand on Oct. 1 from Britain via China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, according to the ministry.

Palestine

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday declared an extension of the state of emergency by 30 days in the Palestinian territories in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The official Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported that the extension would start on Saturday.

In a presidential decree, Abbas urged the concerned authorities "to continue to take all necessary measures to face the dangers resulting from the coronavirus, protect public health, and achieve security and stability."

Palestine reported 545 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 51,607, including 42,544 recoveries and 379 deaths.

Qatar

 In Qatar, 205 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 126,164, including 215 deaths and 123,108 recoveries.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia registered 481 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total cases to 335,578. The death toll reached 4,823 with the reporting of 29 new fatalities.

The kingdom will allow pilgrims residing inside the country to perform the Umrah, beginning on Oct. 4, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands recorded its first ever COVID-19 case, who is a male student returning from the Philippines.

According to reports by local media on Saturday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made a special nationwide address on Saturday afternoon that the country is no longer COVID-free.

Solomon Islands planned to use repatriation flight to take back students studying in the Philippines and Indonesia in September and the first repatriation flight flied back to the country on Sept. 29. Those who wanted to board on the plane must undertake three rounds of testing.

Sogavare said the student who was confirmed as the first COVID-19 case was tested negative in all three compulsory tests before boarding the plane.

Thailand

TV news channels in Thailand on Saturday played video clips with quotes from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra affirming that he had already recovered from COVID-19 infection.

The former prime minister said he contracted the virus in mid-August in Dubai.

 "I was discharged from the hospital more than 20 days ago," said Thaksin on Nation TV. "I have recovered now."

Thaksin, however, did not say whether he had fully recovered from the contagion but said in the TV clip that he was staying at home in the Middle East.

The Philippines

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 319,330 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,674 new daily cases on Saturday.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 255,046 after 459 more patients had recovered. Meanwhile, 62 more patients died from the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 5,678.

Turkey

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey climbed by 1,442 to 321,512, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced.

The death toll from the coronavirus in the country rose to 8,325 after 63 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Koca said, adding that the total recoveries increased to 282,657.

Turkish Interior Ministry Spokesperson Ismail Catakli told reporters at a press conference that as of Oct. 1, 2,474 people, including those who violated COVID-19 isolation rules and who were not able to properly self-isolate, are under mandatory quarantine across the country.