An Airbus SAS A320 aircraft operated by IndiGo flies over a street market in Mumbai, India. （PHOTO / BLOOMBERG）

JERUSELAM / DUBAI / KATHMANDU / BANGKOK / SEOUL - The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday promised free COVID-19 vaccination for all residents in Bihar if its alliance is voted back to power in the upcoming local elections.

The announcement was made by BJP in its manifesto released in Patna, the capital city of Bihar on Thursday.

Providing free COVID-19 vaccine has been made apart from other promises including providing employment.

The Indian state of West Bengal reported its biggest daily tally of new COVID-19 infections as thousands of people thronged the streets for a major Hindu festival that began last week.

India has seen a sharp drop in infections since a September peak, but experts have warned it could see a resurgence during Durga Puja this week, and Diwali, the festival of light, in mid-November.

West Bengal’s health ministry reported 4,069 new COVID-19 cases late on Wednesday. India currently has a total of 7.71 million cases, the second highest in the world.

During the nine-day festival of Durga Puja, Hindus worship the Goddess Durga and visit a series of neighbourhoods to see large idols put up in big tents and other makeshift structures.

India is reopening its borders to international visitors in a bid to revive economic growth even as the South Asian nation battles the world’s second-worst coronavirus outbreak.

On Thursday, India's COVID-19 tally reached 7,706,946 as 55,839 more cases were registered. The death toll surged to 116,616, with 702 deaths recorded since Wednesday morning.

Australia

The Australian government has been accused of ignoring advice from its climate advisory body to use the coronavirus pandemic to address the climate crisis.

Mark Butler, the opposition Labor Party's climate spokesperson, said Thursday that the government ignored a report from the Climate Change Authority in July that said the economic response to COVID-19 should be used to "set up Australia for generations to come" by dealing with climate change."

He told The Guardian that the report found that investing in renewable energy projects and clean energy manufacturing would create tens of thousands of jobs, reduce power prices and cut Australia's carbon emissions.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 3,667 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 438,265.

The ministry also reported 52 new deaths and 2,876 more recovered cases, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 10,418 and the total recoveries to 369,010 in the country.

The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) said in a statement that it is committed to the decisions and recommendations issued by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, regarding health measures to protect the travelers from the coronavirus.

It is also "committed to implementing all guidelines adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization to provide safe travel for citizens," the statement added.

READ MORE: India's COVID-19 recovery rate rises to 88.81%

Israel

Israel's health ministry reported on Wednesday 1,173 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total in the country to 307,335.

The death toll reached 2,291, with 13 new fatalities. The number of patients in serious condition decreased from 614 to 596, out of 1,055 patients currently hospitalized, according to the ministry.

The total number of recoveries reached 285,475, with 2,970 new ones, while active cases dropped to 19,559.

Also on Wednesday, the coronavirus cabinet was convened to discuss an outline to allow the reopening of schools and businesses but decided to keep them closed until a further decrease in morbidity, according to a joint statement by the prime minister's office and the health ministry.

Fishermen wait for a catch at Jukdo harbour in South Korea's northeast county of Yangyang during the annual Chuseok festival holiday on Oct 1, 2020.（ED JONES / AFP)

Japan

Tokyo reported 185 new daily COVID-19 cases on Thursday, rising from 150 infections confirmed the previous day, bringing the cumulative total in the capital to 29,520.

 According to the Tokyo metropolitan government's preliminary figures, the latest daily tally marks the third straight day when new cases have been in triple digits. 

Japan’s ruling party tax chief Akira Amari said Thursday the government will put together another extra budget this year, adding to two earlier supplementary budgets aimed at supporting businesses and households through the pandemic.

“There’s certain to be a third extra budget,” Liberal Democratic Party tax chief Amari said at an online press conference. Amari added that the budget would likely be compiled around Dec. 14-15.

Some 85% of economists surveyed by Bloomberg earlier this month said they expected the government to put together another extra budget by the end of the year.

Even with several trillion yen of reserves left over for use from the previous extra budgets, analysts have pointed out that a likely fall in tax revenues by itself would probably necessitate another supplementary budget. That leaves in doubt how much actual extra spending the additional budget would have to aid the economic recovery and help households and firms.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 813 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 118,531 and the death toll to 721 in the country.

The Kuwaiti health ministry also announced the recovery of 718 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 109,916.

Myanmar

Myanmar has seen a gradual decline in daily testing positivity rate of COVID-19 so far, a health expert told Xinhua on Thursday.

 "The percent positive of the tests has declined to around 8 percent starting the first week of this month when it was around 19 to 21 percent in previous two months," said professor Soe Lwin Nyein, a public health expert and senior advisor of the Health and Sports Ministry.

He said the positivity rate is still high and the transmission rate in the community is high unless it remains below 5 percent.

Public health authorities have been trying to cut the chain of community transmissions by promoting non-pharmaceutical interventions while the treatment measures are also being strictly taken to cure the patients.

A security guard takes the body temperature of a student as he arrives at the Prabhat secondary school after a six-month closure due to the coronavirus in Chandagiri municipality on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Oct 6, 2020. (PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP)

Nepal

The Nepali government on Wednesday reported record high single day spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

"The country saw record 5,743 cases in the last 24 hours," Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Health Ministry, said at a regular press meet on Wednesday.

With the coronavirus spreading in the community massively, the Himalayan country has been witnessing rapid rise in coronavirus cases recently.

With the new infections in the last 24 hours, total coronavirus cases in Nepal reached 144,872, according to the health ministry, which has projected 380,000 cases of COVID-19 in the worst case scenario.

The ministry also reported record high single day deaths of 26 people in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll from the pandemic to 791.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported two new imported cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, both imported cases in managed isolation facilities.

The first case arrived on Monday from the Netherlands via Dubai and the second case arrived on Wednesday from Doha. They were both tested on arrival after developing symptoms on their journey, according to the Ministry of Health.

Both cases are now in the Auckland quarantine facility, said a ministry statement.

Oman

The Omani health ministry announced 451 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 111,484.

The ministry said that 418 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall number of recoveries to 97,367, while 15 others reportedly died, raising the tally to 1,137.

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry announced 266 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 130,210.

It said 227 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 127,093, while the fatalities increased by one to 225.

ALSO READ: S'pore quells virus 'fire,' sees last phase of pandemic curbs

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 405 new COVID-19 infections and 18 more fatalities, raising the tally of coronavirus cases to 343,373 and the death toll to 5,235.

The total number of recoveries in the kingdom rose by 445 to 329,715, the Saudi Health Ministry said.

This handout photo taken on Oct 20, 2020 and released on Oct 21 by the Airports of Thailand company shows members of a group of 39 Chinese visitors at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. (PHOTO / AFP)

South Korea

South Korea reported 121 more coronavirus cases on Thursday, up from 91 cases a day earlier. The number of new infections is the biggest in a month, with 62 cases in Gyeonggi and 18 in Seoul.

Cluster infections in nursing hospitals and senior-care centers have continued, Yonhap News reported, citing Vice Minister of Interior and Safety Kim Gye-jo.

Seventeen were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 3,599.

Three more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 453. The total fatality rate stood at 1.77 percent.

Thailand

Thailand's Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday said in its daily press conference that it aims to reduce quarantine for tourists from 14 days to 10 days.

The announcement came after the first batch of tourists arrived from China on Tuesday.

The arrival of the Chinese tourists was Thailand's first foreign tourists since the closure of the border in March amid COVID-19.

The batch of tourists from Shanghai were tested for COVID-19 before arriving in Bangkok and would undergo the 14-day quarantine under current rules, said Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

"The ministry's Department of Disease Control proposed reducing quarantine to 10 days to begin with," Anutin said.

"I have said that if we are confident, we do not have to be afraid since the goal is finding the safest period for quarantine. If we find a good method, it may be reduced to five, four, three days or even none."

The Philippines

The Philippines' Department of Health on Thursday reported 1,664 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's total tally to 363,888.

The department said that 843 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 312,333. The death toll climbed to 6,783 with 38 newly reported deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkey

Turkey confirmed 2,013 new COVID-19 patients, raising the total diagnosed patients to 353,426, the Turkish Health Ministry announced.

Meanwhile, 68 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 9,513.

The Omani health ministry announced 451 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 111,484.

The ministry said that 418 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall number of recoveries to 97,367, while 15 others reportedly died, raising the tally to 1,137.

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported 1,696 new COVID-19 cases and 24 new deaths on Thursday, bringing its total cases to 394,827 and the death toll to 5,747, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed the total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 310,532, including 1,687 new recoveries on Thursday.

According to the official data, 14,958 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in the country is 1.46 percent and the current recovery rate at 78.65 percent, said the DGHS.

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan on Thursday reported 116 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 40,626 cases, the country's Ministry of Public Health confirmed.

"Within the past 24 hours, 440 suspected cases were tested, out of which 116 cases were tested coronavirus positive in 13 provinces of the country's 34 provinces," the ministry said in a statement.

Four COVID-19 patients succumbed to the virus, taking the number of people who lost their lives to 1,505 since the outbreak of the pandemic in February.

The number of people recovered stands at 33,831 after seven patients recovered during the period.

The ministry has conducted 118,980 tests since February, according to statistics of the ministry.

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 847 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, bringing the national total to 23,804.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press briefing that five of the new cases are imported and 842 are local transmissions.

Five more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 204.

Another 486 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 15,417, or 64.8 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 8,183 active cases, 90 are being held in intensive care and 29 of those are in need of assisted breathing. 

Iran

Iran announced on Thursday 5,471 new COVID-19 confirmed infections, taking the total number of cases in the country to 550,757 so far, official news agency IRNA reported.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing 31,650 lives have so far been lost for causes related to the epidemic in Iran, after the registration of 304 more deaths in the past 24 hours.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported eight new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the country's total tally to 57,941.

Of the new cases, seven are imported cases, one is linked with the dormitories of foreign workers.

On Thursday, eight more cases of COVID-19 infection were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 57,829 cases have fully recovered from the infection, the ministry said.

Myanmar 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 41,008, with 1,312 new infections on Thursday, said a daily release from the country's Health and Sports Ministry.

A total of 33 more deaths were also reported, bringing the death toll to 1,005 on Thursday, the release said.

On Thursday, 2,279 more recovered patients were allowed to be discharged from hospitals, totaling the number of recoveries to 21,144.

A total of 566,222 samples have been tested for the disease so far since COVID-19 was first detected in Myanmar on March 23 this year.

Azerbaijan 

More than 800 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Azerbaijan on Thursday, the highest daily number since the coronavirus outbreak in the country, local health authorities said.

The newly reported 825 cases brought the national tally to 47,418.

Earlier this week Azerbaijan's authorities announced the reinstatement of restrictions as part of quarantine measures amid a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.

The restrictions, effective from Monday, include the closure of the metro and all educational institutions at least through Nov. 2, the Operational Headquarters with the Cabinet of Ministers said, encouraging adults aged above 65 to stay at home.