A health worker, clad in her PPE suit as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus, falls asleep after tending to patients at a public health centre in Bandung, West Java, on Nov 6, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)
SYDNEY / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / BAGHDAD / KATHMANDU / MUSCAT / SEOUL / KUWAIT CITY / AMMAN / ISLAMABAD / WELLINGTON / TOKYO / NEW DELHI / ULAN BATOR / NUR-SULTAN / MALE / BISHKEK / BANGKOK / MANILA / PHNOM PENH - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia surpassed 600,000 on Friday after 6,310 new cases were recorded within one day, pushing the tally to 605,243, the country's health ministry announced on Friday.
It is the highest daily figure recorded in the Southeast Asian region as the coronavirus has spread to all the archipelagic country's 34 provinces.
The ministry's data showed that the death toll due to the coronavirus disease rose by 175 to 18,511.
A total of 4,911 more people were discharged from hospitals within one day, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 496,886.
Since early March, when the first two cases in Indonesia were officially confirmed, the country's capital Jakarta has recorded the highest number of infections with 150,250 cases and 2,900 deaths, followed by East Java with 68,361 cases and 4,791 deaths, and Central Java with 64,608 cases and 2,562 deaths.
The Indonesian government has secured supplies of COVID-19 vaccines from China, including 143 million doses of vaccine made by Sinovac, 15 million doses by Sinopharm and 100,000 doses by CanSino.
Turkey
Turkey’s total COVID-19 case count rose to 1.75 million on Thursday as it changed its reporting method and began announcing the cumulative number of cases. The new data, which once again include asymptomatic infections, put the country’s outbreak among the largest in the world.
Before the reporting changes, the number of Turkey’s symptomatic patients were 558,517.
Australia
An Australian COVID-19 vaccine under development by the University of Queensland (UQ) and local biotech firm CSL will not progress to Phase 2/3 trials after returning false positive HIV test results.
Relevant parties announced Friday that despite eliciting an effective virus response and strong safety profile, a deal for the Australian government to purchase over 50 million doses of the vaccine had been cancelled.
UQ and CSL stressed there was no possibility the vaccine causes HIV infection and that 216 people involved in the trial experienced no serious adverse health effects.
The issue stems from the use of an HIV protein to stabilize UQ's molecular clamp vaccine. Despite posing no risk to health, the presence of the protein prompts an antibody response which is detectable in HIV tests.
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However, due to the implications of delivering the vaccine to the broader populations and potential interference with existing HIV testing procedures, CSL and the Australian government agreed vaccine development would not proceed to Phase 2/3 trials.
"Obviously if we have other great options for vaccines, then it doesn't make sense for people to have a false-positive HIV test. So that's why this has stopped," Clinical epidemiologist at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Nancy Baxter told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Chief Scientific Officer for CSL Dr Andrew Nash said the outcome "highlights the risk of failure associated with early vaccine development."
CSL will continue with plans to manufacture approximately 30 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine candidate with first doses planned for release in Australia in early 2021.
Following the failure of the UQ vaccine, the Australian government revealed it would commission the manufacture of additional 20 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca and increase access to the U.S. Novavax vaccine to around 50 million doses.
Australia reported 9 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national total to 28,000, according to the latest data released by the Department of Health on Thursday.
Meanwhile, with no new death reported, the country's death toll remains at 908, according to the department's data.
Travellers arrive at a hotel in Melbourne on Dec 7, 2020 where Australians returning from overseas will quarantine as part of precautions against the COVID-19 coronavirus. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Brunei
Brunei reported no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday with the national tally of cases remaining at 152.
According to its health ministry, no more recoveries were recorded, with the total number of recovered cases remaining at 147. There are two active cases still being treated at the National Isolation Center.
Cambodia
Cambodia confirmed one more local COVID-19 case, raising the total number of infected people linked to the first-ever community transmission to 40, its Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement on Friday.
The first community outbreak was detected on Nov 28 after six people of a family, who reside in both the capital Phnom Penh and the northwestern Siem Reap province, tested positive for the coronavirus, as the origin of their infection has not yet been identified.
The new confirmed case was found Thursday in a 26-year-old woman living in Phnom Penh's Doun Penh district, the statement said, adding that she had direct contact with a man, who contracted the virus while shopping in the capital on Nov 27.
India
India's COVID-19 tally reached 9,796,769 on Friday as 29,398 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.
According to the data, the death toll mounted to 142,186 with 414 new deaths since Thursday morning.
Delhi has been one of the most COVID-19 affected places in the country. As many as 1,575 new cases and 61 deaths were registered in the national capital during the past 24 hours.
A student waits as medical workers process a sample collected for testing from another student for COVID-19 coronavirus disease using the fast blood testing method at a school in Sadr City, east of Iraq's capital Baghdad on Dec 7, 2020, as part of a testing campaign launched by the health ministry. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Iraq
The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Thursday 1,380 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 571,253, while the recoveries surpassed 500,000.
The new cases included 360 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 227 in Nineveh, 159 in Kirkuk, and 130 in Duhok, while the other cases were detected in the other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also reported 25 new deaths and 2,121 more recovered cases in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,526 and the total recoveries to 501,967.
Meanwhile, Hassan al-Khalatti, a member of the health parliamentary committee, told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the health ministry plans to diversify the sources of vaccines instead of importing them from one company.
Japan
Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) nurses will be dispatched to Osaka Prefecture to help fight a surge in coronavirus infections there, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Friday.
The move came following an official request made by Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura for the assistance of SDF nurses.
Kishi said that due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the western prefecture, the local medical system is becoming overburdened.
He said the nurses will be deployed from next Tuesday will work at two facilities in the prefecture for about two weeks.
Kishi said he hopes "the SDF will make full use of its capabilities to curb the number of fatalities and seriously ill patients as much as possible."
Osaka saw a surge in COVID-19 cases recently, with 415 new infections and nine deaths confirmed on Thursday, with severe cases also hitting record levels.
As to whether more nurses will be deployed henceforth, Kishi said, "We will evaluate the situation and strive to do whatever is possible within the SDF's ability."
Japan’s Cabinet has decided to spend 385.6 billion yen (US$3.71 billion) in emergency budget reserves to back the country’s domestic travel campaign, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
Most of the spending would be used to make up for a budget shortfall for the Go To Travel campaign, the ministry said.
Commuters wearing face masks walk along a concourse at Shinagawa station in Tokyo on Dec 10, 2020. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)
Jordan
Jordan on Thursday reported 2,902 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total infections to 253,121, according to official statistics.
The country also reported 44 more deaths from the virus, raising the death toll to 3,250, according to data issued by the country's Health Ministry via Facebook.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 1,810 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 80,309, the health ministry said on Friday.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that 11 of the new cases are imported and 1,799 are local transmissions.
Six new deaths have been reported, raising the death toll to 402.
Another 937 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 67,173, or 83.6 percent of all cases.
Of the remaining 12,734 active cases, 123 are being held in intensive care units and 63 of those are in need of assisted breathing.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan on Friday reported 836 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total caseload to 139,995, the country's Health Ministry said.
Among the new infections, 118 cases were recorded in the capital city of Nur-Sultan, the ministry said. To combat the case surge, city officials vowed to take more restrictive measures.
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan reported 327 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising the total tally of infections to 76,718.
Among the new cases, 113 were confirmed in the capital city of Bishkek, according to data from the Republican Headquarters for Combating COVID-19.
Kuwait
Kuwait reported 291 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking its national count to 145,495, according to the country's Health Ministry.
Five more deaths from the virus were registered, raising the death toll to 910, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, a total of 141,259 people have recovered from the disease across Kuwait.
Maldives
Maldives' Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) has said that the country will begin a COVID-19 vaccination program in early 2021, local media reported here Friday.
HEOC Spokesperson Dr Nazla Rafeeq said 20 percent of the country's population will receive free vaccinations as part of the COVAX program. Discussions will be held with other countries to obtain vaccines for the remainder of the population.
Mongolia
Mongolia recorded seven new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total infections to 905, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Friday.
The latest new cases were locally transmitted, the NCCD said in a statement.
A total of 471 locally-transmitted cases have been reported nationwide so far, notably in the capital city of Ulan Bator and provinces of Selenge, Darkhan-Uul, Govisumber, Orkhon, Dornogovi and Arkhangai.
Nepal
Nepal confirmed 1,217 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the national total to 245,650, said the country's health ministry.
Meanwhile, 12 more deaths from the virus were reported, raising the national death toll to 1,663.
Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson for the health ministry, told Xinhua in November that the ministry estimated the cost of COVID-19 vaccines at around 60 billion Nepali Rupees (US$505 million), including the costs for storage and other facilities required to keep the vaccines safe.
New Zealand
New Zealand on Friday reported six new COVID-19 cases during the past 48 hours, with two previously reported cases re-classified as not COVID-19 ones, bringing the national total to 2,092, said the ministry of health.
Meanwhile, no new death was reported, as the death toll remained at 25.
Oman
Oman reported 179 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 125,669, the Omani Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The country also registered two new deaths from the virus, taking its total death toll to 1,463, said the ministry.
Pakistan
Pakistan registered 3,047 new COVID-19 cases and 50 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported Friday.
The country's COVID-19 tally now has reached 432,327, while the death toll mounted to 8,653, said the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in the latest update.
A total of 2,538 cases remain in critical condition and 379,092 patients have recovered, said the ministry.
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A man walks past a poster depicting the coronavirus as a bomb to warn against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus at the city hall in Seoul on Dec 8, 2020. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
South Korea
South Korea reported 689 more cases of the COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 40,786.
The daily caseload was the highest in over nine months since Feb 29 when it recorded 909, staying above 600 for the third consecutive day.
The daily number of infections grew in triple digits for 34 days since Nov 8 due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.
Of the new cases, 250 were Seoul residents and 225 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.
Sixteen were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 4,842.
Eight more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 572. The total fatality rate stood at 1.40 percent.
Thailand
Thailand on Friday reported 11 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 4,180, according to its Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
Meanwhile, the country's death toll from the disease has reached 60, and a total of 3,903 patients have recovered so far in the country, the center said.
Thailand's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin said on Friday that health authorities have discovered another frontline health worker tested positive for COVID-19.
"The new locally transmitted COVID-19 infection was a 29-year-old nurse at Bangkok Nursing Home Hospital," said Taweesin, "this raised the number of infected nurses in Bangkok to six."
The Philippines
The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported 1,504 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection on Friday, bringing the total number in the country to 447,039.
The DOH said 273 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 409,329. The death toll climbed to 8,709 after eight more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.
The DOH said it has tested over 5.7 million people in the Philippines so far. The Philippines has a population of about 110 million.
Myanmar
The number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 105,863 in Myanmar, with 1,376 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to a release from the Health and Sports Ministry on Friday.
The death toll has increased to 2,220 while 84,338 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals so far, the release said.
Iran
Iran reported on Friday 9,594 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total count in the country to 1,092,617.
It is the first time since Nov. 9 that Iran's announced number of daily COVID-19 cases is below 10,000.
Of the newly infected, 1,408 had to be hospitalized, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at her daily briefing.
The pandemic has so far claimed 51,728 lives in Iran, after 232 new deaths related to coronavirus were registered between Thursday and Friday, according to Lari.
In addition, 787,853 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from hospitals, with 5,760 still in critical condition, she noted.
The total number of laboratory tests for COVID-19 carried out in Iran is 6,611,783, the spokeswoman said.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan reported 73 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising its national tally to 48,826, including 8,030 active cases, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.
"Laboratories conducted 1,235 tests during the past 24 hours, out of the total tests 73 were positive COVID-19 cases," the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, 45 people recovered during the past 24 hours, while 10 deaths were reported.
Vietnam
Vietnam reported six new cases of COVID-19 infection on Friday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,391 with 35 deaths from the contagious disease so far, according to its Ministry of Health.
The new cases, including three Vietnamese and three Belarusian citizens, recently entered the country from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry, adding that one Belarusian is only three years old.
It said that 1,237 patients have been given the all-clear as of Friday.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 1,884 new COVID-19 cases and 19 new deaths on Friday, bringing the tally to 487,849 and death toll to 6,986, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The official data showed that 16,323 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.
The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 414,318, including 3,866 new recoveries on Friday, said the DGHS.
According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.43 percent and the current recovery rate is 84.93 percent.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 1,810 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 80,309, the health ministry said on Friday.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that 11 of the new cases are imported and 1,799 are local transmissions.
Six new deaths have been reported, raising the death toll to 402.
Another 937 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 67,173, or 83.6 percent of all cases.
Of the remaining 12,734 active cases, 123 are being held in intensive care units and 63 of those are in need of assisted breathing.
