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Tuesday, November 03, 2020, 22:48
Bahrain allows COVID-19 vaccine use for frontline workers
By Agencies
Tuesday, November 03, 2020, 22:48 By Agencies

Graduates of Bahrain Bayan School wearing face masks and keeping distance to each other wait to receive their diplomas at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir race track on June 10, 2020 south of Bahraini capital Manama. (PHOTO / AFP)

DUBAI / SEOUL / AMMAN / JERUSALEM / DHAKA / SYDNEY / SINGAPORE - Bahrain has granted emergency approval for the use of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine candidate currently in phase III trials on frontline workers from Tuesday, state news agency BNA said.

The vaccine candidate, nearing the end of phase III trials in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan, is a partnership between Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company Group 42 (G42).

The UAE in September authorised similar emergency use of the same vaccine for frontline workers at high risk of infection with the new coronavirus.

Bahrain’s Health Minister Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh said on Tuesday, in comments carried by BNA, that the use of the vaccine complies with the country’s regulations on exceptional licensing in emergency cases.

“The results of phase I and phase II clinical trials showed the vaccine is safe and effective,” she said, adding that phase III trials were going smoothly and without serious side effects.

Around 7,770 people have so far volunteered in the Phase III trials in Bahrain and have received a second dose, the minister added.

The phase III trials of the inactivated virus vaccine began in mid-July in the UAE, and were expanded to Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan.

Singapore 

Singapore students have to start using either the government’s contact-tracing token or mobile app from December as the city-state seeks to resume more activities amid the pandemic.

The implementation of the entrance requirement to schools will be enforced for children age seven and above, and when they all have had a chance to collect the state-issued tokens or download the app, the Ministry of Education said Monday, according to updated guidelines on its website. 

The policy follows an earlier announcement that the “TraceTogether” technology must be used at popular venues like local restaurants, offices and shopping malls by December.

“Schools are safe with all the existing safe management measures,” the ministry said. Nonetheless, this policy will “complement current safe management measures as we progressively resume more activities and ease certain restrictions, both in and out of school.” Students will not be denied entry to schools if they do not have the app or forget to bring the token, it added.

Australia

Australia on Tuesday reported one locally acquired case of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, reported the one domestic case of COVID-19, though it and Queensland state said there were six infections among people returning from overseas and in quarantine. 

The result means Victoria state, the epicentre of Australia's COVD-19 outbreak, has now gone four days without detecting any new infections. 

With infections curtailed, South Australia state said it reopen the border with Victoria in two weeks. Anyone travelling from Victoria will have to quarantine for two weeks after arriving, South Australia Premier Steven Marshall said. 

"This is great news for families, especially in the lead up to Christmas," Marshall told reporters in Adelaide. The unbroken record comes a week after Victoria eased a stringent lockdown of Australia's second most populated city after more than 100 days. 

Still, gatherings remain tightly controlled, and Australia’s most famous horse race, the Melbourne Cup, will on Tuesday be run for the first time without crowds in attendance. 

Australia has fared much better than most other rich nations with the coronavirus, with just over 27,600 cases and 907 deaths. 

Bangladesh

The Bangladeshi government has no plan to order a new lockdown to contain a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam made the announcement after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.

Instead, he said the government is emphasizing on the use of masks to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mask-wearing at all public and private institutions, market places and other places of worship was made mandatory at the cabinet meeting.

The Bangladeshi government last week also decided that no public and private offices will serve anyone who is not wearing a mask.

In the current situation of COVID-19, Islam said Prime Minister Hasina has given instructions to enforce "no mask no service" policy strictly.

India

India's COVID-19 tally reached 8,267,623 on Tuesday as 38,310 new cases were detected across the country in the past 24 hours, said latest data released by the federal health ministry.

With 490 deaths since Monday morning, the total death toll in the country due to the pandemic reached 123,097, added the ministry's data.

Still there are 541,405 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 7,603,121 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals so far.

The Indian government's focus has been on ramping up COVID-19 testing facilities across the length and breadth of the country.

Indonesia

A total of 161 Indonesian doctors have died of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) on Tuesday.

"They died after being infected by the COVID-19," the IDI's Mitigation Team leader Adib Khumaidi said.

The highest death toll came from East Java with 33, followed by Jakarta 24, North Sumatra 23, West Java 12, and Central Java 10. 

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 693 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total infections to 315,636.

The number of death cases rose to 2,580, with 26 new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 394 to 383, out of 660 patients currently hospitalized.

The number of recoveries rose to 303,405, with 696 new ones, while active cases currently stand at 9,651.

Earlier on Monday, the ministry announced a new COVID-19 test, which will shorten the process from eight to four hours.

This is an Israeli-developed PCR test, which integrates robotics that helps shorten the time until the results are obtained.

READ MORE:  S. Korea announces new 5-tier social-distancing regulations

An ambulance drives along an empty road during a coronavirus lockdown in Jordan's capital Amman on Oct 9, 2020. (KHALIL MAZRAAWI / AFP)

Jordan 

Jordan reported 5,877 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily spike in the country so far, increasing the tally of cases to 81,743. Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus climbed by 47 to 913.

Amid the surge in the infections, the Jordanian Health Ministry urged citizens to abide by health measures, wear masks and gloves, and avoid gatherings of more than 20 people.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 759 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 127,293 and the death toll to 786 in the country.

The Kuwaiti health ministry also announced the recovery of 828 more patients, taking the total recoveries in the country to 118,386.

Laos

A total of 2,741 people are quarantined at 31 accommodation centers in Laos, the Ministry of Health said Tuesday.

Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Ministry of Health Sisavath Soutthaniraxay told a press conference here that the Lao government continues to implement preventive measures and carefully monitor people entering Laos.

Malaysia

Malaysia has approved the use of two South Korean flu vaccines after a temporary ban following a safety assessment, Malaysian Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Taking into account information from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), safety reports and information from international regulatory bodies, the Malaysian National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency cleared the use of the products, Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin ordered the National Security Council to review social distancing rules in order to break the chain of transmission as cases rise across the country. The council will deliberate proposals on stricter rules at a meeting Tuesday.

Malaysia's health ministry reported 1,054 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total to 34,393 infections. The Southeast Asian country also recorded 12 new fatalities, raising the death toll from the pandemic to 263.

Mongolia 

Mongolia confirmed Tuesday one more COVID-19 case, taking the total infections in the country to 350, according to its health ministry.

The latest confirmed case is a Mongolian citizen who has recently returned home from abroad on a chartered flight, the ministry said in a statement.

New Zealand

New Zealand Ministry of Health confirmed on Tuesday that a second worker at the Sudima hotel managed isolation facility in Christchurch was tested positive for COVID-19.

The second case came after the first one was confirmed on Monday, who was a member of the health team working at the Sudima Christchurch Airport isolation facility where a group of more than 200 international mariners are in managed isolation and quarantine, according to the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, New Zealand began testing close contacts of the country's first locally acquired case since mid-October.

New Zealand also four imported cases at managed isolation facilities.

People carry shopping bags after measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 were eased allowing limited numbers of people back into shops, bars, cafes and restaurants in Melbourne on Oct 28, 2020. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Oman

Oman's Ministry of Health announced 418 new cases of infections, raising the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 116,152, including 1,256 deaths and 106,195 recoveries.

Palestine

Palestine reported 749 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 66,551, including 565 deaths and 58,581 recoveries.

On the same day, Palestine agreed to pay financial aid to Palestinian workers, who had been economically affected by COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories, accordign to an official press statement.

The financial aid will include 68,000 workers and each of them will receive US$200.

ALSO READ: Iran reports record high COVID-19 death toll

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced 381 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 348,037. The recoveries also rose to 334,672 with the reporting of 436 recovered cases. The death toll reached 5,437 cases with the registration of 17 more fatalities.

South Korea

South Korea reported 75 more cases of the COVID-19 as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 26,807.

The daily caseload hovered below 100 for two straight days, but the double-digit growth continued due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 21 were Seoul residents and 15 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-nine were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 3,825.

Qatar

In Qatar, 197 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 132,917, including 232 deaths and 129,996 recoveries.

Thailand

The Thai government is studying the possibility of reducing mandatory quarantine to 10 days from 14 to attract more foreign visitors, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said. The Cabinet will hold an off-site meeting in the tourist hotspot of Phuket on Tuesday.

The Philippines

The Philippines will store coronavirus vaccines in military camps once they are available, as President Rodrigo Duterte chose a retired general to lead efforts to secure and distribute shots. 

The Southeast Asian nation expects to procure shots in the first quarter of 2021, said Carlito Galvez, vaccine czar and chief implementer of policies to stem the outbreak.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,772 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, bringing the total number in the country to 387,161.

The DOH said 153 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 348,967. The death toll climbed to 7,318 after 49 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

The DOH said it had tested over 4.56 million people in the Philippines so far. The Philippines has a population of about 110 million.

Turkey

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey climbed by 2,302 to 379,775. The death toll from the coronavirus in the country rose to 10,402 after 76 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, while the total recoveries increased to 327,007.

Iran

Iran announced on Tuesday a record of 8,932 new COVID-19 infections, in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 637,712 since the outbreak.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing that 422 people lost their lives due to being infected with the virus in the country, taking the death toll to 36,160.

According to Sadat Lari, 495,473 COVID-19 patients have recovered, while 5,378 are currently in critical condition in intensive care units.

The spokeswoman noted 5,036,633 laboratory tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran by now.

The risk of infection is currently deemed high in 27 out of 31 Iranian provinces, while the other four are on yellow alert over the spread of the disease.

The UAE

The Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates has become the latest high-ranking official in the country to receive a coronavirus vaccine.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of the UAE emirate of Dubai, said he was vaccinated on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed said he took the vaccine last month.

Phase 3 trials for a vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm Group Co Ltd started in the UAE in July and the country granted emergency approval for its use in healthcare workers in September.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 1,234 new cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 135,141.

The tally of recoveries in the UAE rose to 132,024 after 1,516 more patients have recovered from the virus and the death toll reached 497 with one more death.


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