A restaurant worker carries a tray of food through Namdaemun market in Seoul on Dec 11, 2020. (ED JONES / AFP)

TOKYO / SEOUL / WILLINGTON - South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in warned on Sunday that COVID-19 restrictions may be raised to the highest level after a second day of record increases in cases as the country battles a harsh third wave of infection.

Presiding over an emergency meeting at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for the first time since February, Moon urged vigilance and called for an all-out efforts to contain the virus.

“Unless the outbreak can be contained now, it has come to the critical point of considering escalating social-distancing measures to the third level,” he said, referring to the tightest curbs under the country’s five-tier system.

South Korea reported 1,030 more daily cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Saturday, raising the total number of infections to 42,766.

It was the highest daily caseload since the first confirmed case was reported here on Jan. 20, topping 1,000 for the first time.

The recent cluster infections were traceable to church services, nursing homes, private cram schools and restaurants as well as gatherings among families and acquaintances.

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan on Sunday reported 321 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases after health authorities conducted 1,665 tests within a day, bringing the number of total cases to 49,237, including 8,312 active cases, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.

Up to 1,971 deaths have been recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic in February, an increase of 11 within the past 24 hours.

Australia 

Australia reported 4 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national total to 28,029, according to the latest data released by the Department of Health on Sunday.

Meanwhile, with no new death reported, the country's death toll remains at 908, according to the department's data. A total of 25,674 patients have recovered, an estimate of 1,447 cases are still active, shows the update. 

Bahrain

Bahrain approved the registration of the Sinopharm Group Co Ltd. vaccine against the coronavirus, about a week after the United Arab Emirates registered the Chinese-made vaccine.

“Results from Phase III clinical trials showed an 86 percent efficacy rate, a 99 percent seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100% effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of COVID-19,” the National Health Regulatory Authority said in a statement Sunday.

Bahrain has participated in phase III clinical trials, in which more than 7,700 volunteers signed up. Bahrain had previously authorized the emergency use of the vaccine, which was provided to frontline workers in contact with coronavirus patients

India

India's COVID-19 tally reached 9,857,029 on Sunday as 30,254 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 143,019 as 391 COVID-19 patients died since Saturday morning.

Chief Minister of the southern Indian state of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has announced people in Kerala would be vaccinated against COVID-19 free of cost when the vaccine becomes available, officials said Sunday.

Iran

Iran's Health Ministry reported 8,201 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,100,818.

The pandemic has so far claimed 51,949 lives in Iran, up by 221 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

Of the newly infected, 1,286 were hospitalized. A total of 800,743 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,739 remain in intensive care units, she noted.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 1,022 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 573,622.

It is the lowest daily increase in the country since mid-June, as the ministry recorded single-day cases between 2,000 and 5,000 during the period.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, the infection rate was 3 percent of the total tests in the day, after it once reached 24 percent in the past months.

The ministry also reported 16 new deaths and 1,772 more recovered cases in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,565 and the total recoveries to 505,669.

READ MORE: Indonesia's COVID-19 cases surpass 600,000

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 1,983 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 355,252.

The number of death cases rose to 2,979 with 10 new deaths, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 322 to 331, out of 621 patients hospitalized.

The number of recoveries reached 335,093, with 1,193 new ones, while the active cases stand at 17,180.

Japan 

Japan may halt its national travel subsidy campaign in the cities of Tokyo and Nagoya because of rising coronavirus cases in the cities, local media reported on Sunday.

The government plans to hold discussions with governors of regions experiencing increases in the number of infections on whether to suspend some cities from the “Go To” travel program, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told NHK on Sunday.

“We’ve been discussing the issue and measures with governors of cities with areas designated stage three,” said Nishimura, who’s in charge of coronavirus policy. He said he’s planning to have talks with them, including Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, on Sunday afternoon.

The country’s campaign, which aims to boost the economy by discounting travel, has come under fire because of concerns it may be linked to a surge in Covid-19 infections. The health ministry reported that Japan had more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, which local media said was a record.

Pedestrians cross a street in Tokyo's Shinjuku area on December 12, 2020, as the city reported 621 new infections of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)

Jordan

Jordan's total cases soared to 257,275 with 1,816 new infections. The death toll in the country reached 3,335 with 49 new ones, while the total recoveries hit 213,344.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 255 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections to 146,044, while the death toll increased by one to 911. The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the total recoveries rose to 141,825. 

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 infections surged by 1,540 to 145,245, including 1,190 deaths and 98,584 recoveries.  

Myanmar

A Thai health expert on Saturday warned that COVID-19-infected returnees from Myanmar's Tachilek township are highly infectious by carrying the COVID-19 G strain.

The infected returnees from Myanmar's Tachilek township carried the G strain of the coronavirus, which is easily transmitted and causes more severe symptoms than other strains, said Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the disease control department at the Ministry of Public Health.

So far, Thailand has tested hundreds of people returned from Myanmar, 49 of them have tested positive for COVID-19, who are in seven provinces.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday with no new community cases, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

According to the ministry, two of the new cases were recent returnees from the United States and one was from Britain.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases was 56 and the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 1,740, said the ministry.

Pakistan 

Pakistan registered 3,369 new COVID-19 cases and 72 relevant deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported Friday.

The country's COVID-19 tally now has reached 438,425, while the death toll mounted to 8,796, said the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in the latest update.

Palestine

Palestine reported 1,845 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 123,002, including 1,062 deaths and 96,531 recoveries.  Enditem

Qatar

In Qatar, 147 new infections were detected, increasing the total number to 140,827, including 240 deaths and 138,347 recoveries.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced 166 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 359,749.

The recoveries rose to 350,347, while the death toll reached 6,036 with the registration of 13 more fatalities.

Thailand

Thailand confirmed 17 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide caseloads to 4,209, according to data released by its Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration on Sunday.

The country has so far registered 3,923 recoveries and 60 deaths, it added.

Hoteliers in the northern tourism provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai on Friday called on the authorities to take measures to boost domestic tourism as hotel room occupancy rate has been low amid the pandemic.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 1,154 new cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 183,755.

The tally of recoveries in the UAE rose to 163,048, and the death toll reached 609 with two more fatalities.

The Philippines

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Sunday reported 1,085 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, bringing the total number in the country to 449,400.

The DOH said 9,269 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 418,687. The death toll climbed to 8,733 after three more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

The DOH said Metro Manila tops the regions with active and new coronavirus cases, followed by the provinces south and north of the capital on the main island of Luzon.

Turkey

Turkey, the worst-hit country by the COVID-19 in the Middle East, has registered over 1.8 million infections with continuous daily increase of around 30,000 cases. 

The Turkish Health Ministry reported 29,136 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including 5,203 symptomatic patients, as the total number of coronavirus cases in the country increased to 1,809,809.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 222 to 16,199, and the total recoveries hit 1,581,565.

ALSO READ: S. Korea reports record 950 new cases in COVID-19 'emergency'

Uzbekistan 

Uzbekistan recorded 145 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 74,956, the health ministry said Sunday.

The death toll in the country stood at 612 with 72,243 recoveries, according to the figures released by the ministry.

Uzbekistan has started a phase-3 trial of a coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese company Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, the Uzbek Ministry of Innovative Development said Thursday. 

Vietnam

A Vietnamese court on Saturday sentenced the head of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control and Prevention to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of wrongdoing linked to the procurement of equipment intended to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Nguyen Nhat Cam, 57, was accused of overstating the cost of COVID-19 testing systems during a transaction, causing a loss of 5.4 billion dong (US$233,483) to the state budget, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.