A couple takes pictures in front of Christmas-themed light decorations along a street in Marunouchi district in Tokyo on Dec 25, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

TOKYO / CAIRO / NEW DELHI - Japan’s capital found a record 949 new coronavirus cases Saturday as Tokyo authorities urged residents to stay home.

That compared with 884 new cases on Friday and the previous high of 888 on Thursday, according to data provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Authorities have imposed the highest alert in the metropolis of nearly 14 million people, and warned that the medical situation there is strained.

Governor Yuriko Koike has called on residents to refrain from unnecessary outings, and has asked bars and restaurants in central districts to close at 10 pm That’s an effort to slow the spread during a period when many people attend so-called “Bonen-kai” gatherings, which translates to “forget-the-year party.”

The warnings from authorities have failed to slow the spread, with the seven-day moving average of confirmed cases rising to 681 on Friday from 444.3 on Dec 1. The city also faces new concerns over a variant identified in the UK after Japan on Friday confirmed that five returnees from the country were infected with the strain.

On Saturday, two more people were found infected with the strain, broadcaster NTV reported, citing an unidentified person. One was a man in his 30s who returned from the U.K. on Dec. 16 and another was his family member. Both are residents of Tokyo, and are the first cases confirmed to have the mutated virus outside of airport quarantine.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged the nation on Friday to spend a quiet New Year period without the usual social gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has been breaking infection records almost on a daily basis.

Suga also announced a package of US$2.6 billion for hospitals treating COVID-19 patients which have come under strain due to the rapid rise in cases across the northern island of Hokkaido as well as large cities like Tokyo and Osaka.

South Korea

South Korea posted its second-highest daily number of coronavirus cases on Saturday as outbreaks at a prison, nursing homes and churches continued to grow, prompting authorities to plead for a halt to all year-end gatherings.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said there were 1,132 new coronavirus cases on Friday, not too far off the record of 1,241 logged a day earlier.

“The virus is spreading whenever and wherever it wants,” Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told an intra-agency meeting, adding that people were also being infected at small gatherings with friends and acquaintances.

“As we stand at the crossroads of the third wave, how we stop the spread hinges on how we spend this year-end and New Year period.”

The government plans to hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss whether it will tighten distancing rules to the toughest level for the greater Seoul area.

ALSO READ: Japan govt panel: People 65 or older should get vaccine priority

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as part of a national COVID-19 vaccination plan being implemented by the ministry of health, state news agency SPA reported on Friday.

Turkey

Turkey on Friday reported 17,543 new COVID-19 cases and 256 new deaths, taking the death toll to 19,371.

The country has obliged all international airway passengers flying to it to present a negative COVID-19 test result as of Dec 28.

All travelers coming from abroad should submit negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results carried out within the last 72 hours before boarding, Turkish authorities said.

The same will be applied for other international passengers arriving in Turkey by land and sea routes as of Dec 30. Those without tests would be put under quarantine at their addresses where they will reside in the country.

"The new measures were needed for arrivals from abroad due to the increase in the number of cases across the world and the acceleration of the pandemic,"  Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, noting that the new regulation will be effective until March 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey has been taking all the necessary measures for the New Year celebrations to prevent large gatherings to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to reporters after the Friday prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan said security forces would not tolerate New Year's Eve parties in hotels, villas, or any accommodation facilities.

"It is not possible that we would allow these," Erdogan added, noting that the necessary operations would be conducted to these parties to restrain the spread of the coronavirus.

The Turkish leader also noted that the vaccination process in the country would be carried out with vaccines from China and Germany.

"When the vaccines arrive, we will be vaccinated with all our colleagues," Erdogan said, calling on all citizens to act on that matter.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Friday 1,140 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 589,943.

The ministry also reported 11 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,755, and 1,531 more recovered cases, bringing the total recoveries to 528,872.

The Iraqi authorities have imposed new restrictive measures to protect the Iraqi people from a new strain of coronavirus that was recently found in many countries and is characterized by faster transmission.

The authorities have decided to ban travel to Britain, South Africa, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Iran, Japan, and any other country the Ministry of Health would recommend.

The authorities also banned the entry of travellers from these countries, except for Iraqi citizens who must be quarantined for 14 days until a PCR test proves they are not infected with the virus.

Moreover, the authorities decided to suspend the ground border crossings, except for emergencies and trade exchange, and to close malls, restaurants, and other public facilities from 7 pm to 6 am for two weeks starting Dec 24.

Palestine

Palestine recorded on Friday 1,812 new COVID-19 cases and 21 new deaths in the Palestinian terrorities, bringing the total cases to 147,234 and the death toll to 1,385.

Palestine imposed a full lockdown and curfew on Thursday night, which will remain effective until Sunday morning. All shops and restaurants are closed, except for pharmacies and bakeries.

Iran

Iran announced on Friday 6,021 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, raising the tally to 1,189,203 in the country so far.

Of the newly infected, 906 had to be hospitalized, said the spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education Sima Sadat Lari at her daily briefing.

The pandemic has so far claimed 54,440 lives in Iran, after 132 new deaths from the virus were registered between Thursday and Friday, according to Sadat Lari.

Meanwhile, 933,736 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals as of Friday, as 5,345 others are still in critical condition, she added.

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 4,889 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total to 394,391.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 3,186 with 16 new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 526 to 527, out of 917 hospitalized patients.

Lebanon

Lebanese Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Friday that one passenger arriving in Beirut from Britain carries the new variant of COVID-19.

"One case was registered on the flight ME 202 arriving in Beirut from Britain on Monday, and we call on all passengers who were on the plane to be cautious and to take all necessary precautions," Hassan said in a tweet.

The minister added that the ministry is following up on the infected case while he urged all other passengers who were on the same flight to take PCR tests and quarantine.

READ MORE: Malaysia's coronavirus tally surpasses 100,000

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 260 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections to 149,277, while the death toll remained at 926.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 232 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 145,130.

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry on Friday announced 129 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 142,734.

Meanwhile, 138 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 140,542, while the fatalities increased by one to 244.  

Australia

Sydney residents were urged not to head to the shops for Boxing Day bargains, while those in some northern beach suburbs prepared to re-enter a strict lockdown for three days from Sunday as the city seeks to stamp out a coronavirus outbreak.

The state of New South Wales recorded nine new coronavirus cases, eight of them directly linked to the northern beaches outbreak, which now stands at 116 confirmed cases. Lockdown measures for some suburbs were first imposed on Dec 19 but were eased slightly for the Christmas break.

“Our strategy is to make sure we nip this in the bud as soon as we can,” the state’s premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said at a televised news conference.

“And in the next few days we will let the community know what New Year’s Eve will look like and what January looks like for the northern beaches and the rest of Sydney.”

She encouraged Sydneysiders to switch to online purchases for Boxing Day shopping.

Nepal 

Nepal will prioritize the COVID-19 vaccines which can be stored in standard refrigerator temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius as the Himalayan country does not have adequate freezing infrastructure for the vaccines which should be frozen below zero degree, health officials said.

The available COVID-19 vaccines which have been either been allowed to be inoculated or in the final phase of trail can be stored in different temperatures.

For example, the vaccines produced by Chinese company Sinovac can be stored in a standard refrigerator at 2-8 degrees Celsius, while the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can also be stored in same temperature.

The US-based company Moderna's vaccine needs to be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius and another US company Pfizer's vaccine should be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

India

Asia's largest slum in India's financial capital Mumbai drew a blank score for fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday for the first time after 267 days, after it reported the first case on April 1 this year.

"A 'zero' that will be remembered as the best score ever!" the city's civic authority BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on the social media.

There were several days in the past when a solitary case was reported but Friday was the first time when no case has been reported from the Dharavi slum, a civic official said.

Spread over 613 hectares and home to some 1 million people before the pandemic broke out, the densely congested slum had reported 3,788 cases so far, of which 312 people were reported dead.

The slum, which was once a hotspot for the COVID-19, now has a total of 12 cases of which eight are home quarantine while the rest are under treatment at the civic-run hospital, said Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of BMC.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,169,118 on Saturday as 22,273 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the country's health ministry.

According to the data, the death toll mounted to 147,343 as 251 COVID-19 patients died since Friday morning.

Mongolia 

Mongolia confirmed seven new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the national tally to 1,082, said the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).

The latest cases were locally transmitted, including two in health workers of the country's National Cancer Center in the capital city Ulan Bator, said Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the NCCD's Surveillance Department, at a daily press conference.

A total of 640 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.

Meanwhile, 127 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the national count to 711, according to the center. 

Thailand 

Thailand reported 110 new cases Saturday, most connected to a recent outbreak in Samut Sakhon province, the country’s seafood hub. Of the new 110 cases, 64 were transmitted locally, 30 were found among migrant workers and 16 were detected in state quarantine, according to the country’s COVID-19 center.

Thailand’s recent wave started with a record 576 new cases Dec. 20, mostly among workers at seafood markets, people who visited the markets or their close contacts. Seeking to limit the spread during the New Year’s holiday, the government on Thursday divided the country into zones based on risk and banned public gatherings in areas at the highest risk level.

Afghanistan

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health confirmed 83 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of patients in the country to 51,847, including 7,950 active cases.

A total of 978 COVID-19 tests were conducted within the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement.

Ten patients died within the period, taking the death toll to 2,158 since February, the statement added.

Some 260 new recoveries were recorded since early Friday.

The Philippines

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported 1,406 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number in the country to 469,005.

The DOH said 266 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 431,055. The death toll climbed to 9,067 after five more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

The Philippines has tested over 6.2 million people so far since the disease emerged in January. The Philippines has a population of about 110 million.