Women wearing face masks use their smartphones outside Shinjuku station in downtown Tokyo on Sept 14, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

DUBAI / JERUSELAM / MELBOURNE / COLOMBO - Japan's transport ministry on Wednesday approved a measure allowing taxi drivers in Tokyo to refuse passengers who are not wearing face masks.

The move came amid the spike in new COVID-19 cases in the capital.

Ten taxi companies in Tokyo, including a major one, requested the ministry to review the rules last month.

In Japan, taxi drivers are essentially banned from refusing passengers unless they are heavily intoxicated or violent to drivers, among other special circumstances.

However, the Tokyo taxi companies had asked to change the rules as some drunken passengers speak aloud inside their cabs without wearing masks, raising fears that it would increase the risk of COVID-19 infection.

According to the transport ministry, the measure is aimed at urging passengers to wear masks and to protect not only taxi drivers but also the next passengers.

The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 623 to reach 104,035 as of Wednesday night, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities.

The figure excludes the 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo earlier this year.

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at 1,812, with four new fatalities announced on Wednesday. The death toll includes 13 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The health ministry also said there are currently 165 patients considered severely ill with ventilators or in intensive care units.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government has announced that it will reconsider a decision it had taken in March to cremate all those who die from COVID-19 in the island country and a government-appointed committee will meet this week to discuss the issue, local media reported here Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka government said in March that it would not grant permission for COVID-19 victims to be buried following medical advice received at that time.

Further explaining the situation, Sri Lanka's Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi informed parliament on Tuesday that the decision to only allow for cremation was based on the advice of medical experts who gave the government a scientific analysis of the situation at the time as in March it was an unknown virus and there was a need to study it further.

However, she said a committee appointed in this regard will meet this week to reconsider this decision.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka rose to 23 on Tuesday evening after two deaths were reported during the day, statistics from the health ministry showed here.

Australia

The border between New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s two biggest state economies, will reopen on Nov. 23 as community transmission of the coronavirus declines.

“We need to keep moving forward as we live with Covid-19,” NSW state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Twitter. Her state reported three new local cases of the virus on Wednesday, while Victoria, which ended a three-month lockdown in its capital Melbourne last week, reported zero new cases.

Victoria recorded its fifth straight day with zero new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, less than two weeks after exiting a strict virus lockdown.

India

India's COVID-19 tally reached 8,313,876 on Wednesday, as 46,253 new cases were detected across the country, according to latest data released by the federal health ministry.

With 514 deaths since Tuesday morning, the total death toll in the country due to the pandemic reached 123,611, the ministry's data showed.

Still there are 533,787 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 7,656,478 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals so far.

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

Iraq

In Iraq, the health ministry reported 3,595 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 482,296. It also confirmed 51 new deaths and 2,979 more recovered cases, raising the death toll to 11,068 and the tally of recoveries to 408,756.

The ministry's spokesman Saif al-Badr said in a press release that the decision to start the new school year will be made in the coming days by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

Israel

In Israel, the tally of COVID-19 cases climbed by 775 to 316,411 as of Tuesday evening, while the death toll rose by 12 to 2,592. The total number of recoveries in Israel surged by 524 to 303,929.

Israel has launched a national community of COVID-19 researchers, named "GOVID-19," whose goal is to create a coronavirus knowledge platform which will be accessible to the public and decision makers, Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology said.

Jordan

Jordan, which has witnessed a rapid resurgence of coronavirus infections recently, reported 4,833 new COVID-19 cases and 54 more deaths, pushing up the tally of infections to 86,576 and the death toll to 967. The tally of recoveries rose by 135 to 7,993.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 787 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 128,080 and the death toll to 789 in the country.

The Kuwaiti health ministry also announced the recovery of 694 more patients, taking the total recoveries in the country to 119,080.

Oman

In Oman, the health ministry announced 376 new COVID-19 infections and eight more deaths, raising the total confirmed cases in the sultanate to 116,528 and the death toll to 1,264.

A total of 345 more people recovered from the disease in Oman during the past 24 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 106,540, while eight others reportedly died, raising the tally to 1,264.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported two additional imported cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and a community case related to a managed isolation facility health worker in Christchurch who was tested positive of the virus the previous day.

The first case was a recently arrived case from managed isolation and the second is a recently identified historical case, according to the Ministry of Health.

The recently arrived case arrived from Singapore on Oct. 31 and tested positive at around day 3 in managed isolation. The person is now in quarantine at an Auckland facility, said a ministry statement.

Palestine

An official in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that the coastal enclave would suffer a lot amid the significant increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in the latest days.

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman of the Hamas-run Health Ministry, said that "there is a state of public recklessness spreading among people, which has caused an increase in the number of people infected with the virus."

The ministry recorded on Monday 229 new cases infected with the coronavirus, bring the total number to 7,231. There were three fatalities from the virus, increasing the death toll to 37.

"The significant increase in the number of infections was also due to the lack of medical equipment and treatment at Gaza Health Ministry," he said, adding that the only tool to avoid the spread of the virus is "people's commitment to the health instructions."

People are seen walking and cycling along the St Kilda Beach Promenade in Melbourne, Australia, Oct 28, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry on Tuesday reported 226 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 133,143, including 232 deaths and 130,202 recoveries. 

READ MORE: Bahrain allows COVID-19 vaccine use for frontline workers

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 473 new COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths, raising the tally of infections in the kingdom to 348,510 and the death toll to 5,456. The tally of recoveries rose by 481 to 335,153.

Singapore

Singapore reported 9 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the country's total to 58,029, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Of the new cases, 2 are locally transmitted COVID-19 infection. Both reside in dormitories. There are 7 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore.

All new cases were asymptomatic, and were detected from the proactive screening and surveillance, MOH said.

South Korea

South Korea reported 118 more cases of the COVID-19 as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 26,925.

The daily caseload rose above 100 in three days due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 39 were Seoul residents and 41 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

The UAE

The UAE announced on Tuesday 1,008 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 136,149 and the death toll to 503.

At the same time, 1,466 more patients recovered from the virus, taking the tally of recoveries in the UAE to 133,490, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention said.

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

The Philippines

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported 987 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, bringing the total number in the country to 388,137.

The number of daily confirmed cases reported on Wednesday is the lowest recorded since July 14.

The DOH said 140 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 349,091. The death toll climbed to 7,367 after 49 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

The DOH said it had tested over 4.58 million people in the country with a population of about 110 million.

Turkey

Businesses, including restaurants and cafes, across Turkey will be closed at 10:00 pm local time starting from Wednesday to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision was made on Tuesday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara following a cabinet meeting.

The Turkish leader added that swimming pools, hairdressers, wedding venues, cinemas, concert halls, and similar places would also close their doors at the time.

Following this statement, various restaurants and bars in the country's biggest city Istanbul have announced the new working hours through their social media accounts.

Turkey reported 2,343 new COVID-19 infections and 79 more deaths from the virus on Tuesday, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 382,118 and death toll to 10,481.

Afghanistan 

A total of 86 new COVID-19 cases were registered in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of total cases in the country to 41,814, the Public Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

According to a statement released by the ministry, four patients died over the period, bringing the number of deaths to 1,548.

The ministry confirmed that 49 patients recovered over the past 24 hours, taking the number of recovered cases to 34,404 in the country.

Indonesia 

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 3,356 within one day to 421,731, with the death toll adding by 113 to 14,259, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, 3,785 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 353,282.

The virus has spread to all the country's 34 provinces.

Specifically, within the past 24 hours, Jakarta recorded 768 new cases, Central Java 547, West Java 516, East Java 239 and Riau 172.

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported 1,517 new COVID-19 cases and 21 new deaths on Wednesday, making the tally at 414,164 and the death toll at 6,004, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 13,914 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 331,697 including 1,910 new recoveries on Wednesday, said the DGHS.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.45 percent and the current recovery rate is 80.09 percent.

Vietnam 

Vietnam reported four new cases of COVID-19 infection on Wednesday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,206 with 35 deaths from the disease so far, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new cases include an Israeli and three Vietnamese citizens who recently entered the country from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry.

It also announced that 1,069 patients in Vietnam have been given all-clear as of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, nearly 15,300 people are being quarantined and monitored in the country, the ministry said.

Vietnam has gone through 63 straight days without any new COVID-19 cases in the community, according to the ministry.

The ministry has urged that the trial of COVID-19 vaccine on humans be conducted in November following the completion of paperwork, Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 1,032 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 35,425, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press briefing that three of the new cases were imported and 1,029 were local transmissions.

Another eight new deaths had been reported, pushing the death toll to 271.

Another 820 patients had been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 24,815, or 70 percent of all cases.

Iran

Iran's health ministry reported 8,452 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total nationwide number to 646,164.

The pandemic has so far claimed 36,579 lives in Iran, up by 419 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

A total of 500,400 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,426 remain in intensive care units, she added.