In this April 11, 2020 file photo, a staff member takes out samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of Sinopharm in Beijing. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

SINGAPORE / TEHRAN / YANGON / BAGHDAD / SYDNEY - Pakistan will purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China’s Sinopharm, a minister said on Thursday, the first official confirmation of a vaccine purchase by the South Asian country as it battles a second wave of infections.

China approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm on Thursday, its first approved shot for general public use.

“The Cabinet Committee has decided to initially purchase 1.2 million doses of the vaccine from the Chinese company Sinopharm, which will be provided free of cost to frontline workers in the first quarter of 2021,” Pakistani Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Twitter.

The minister told Reuters the purchase would be of the vaccine candidate developed by Sinopharm’s Beijing Institute of Biological Products.

Japan

The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in Tokyo surpassed the 1,000-mark for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, Governor Yuriko Koike said Thursday, warning that the third wave hitting the capital is of "unprecedented size."

The spike comes after economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Japan could consider a state of emergency if infections continue at the current rate. On Thursday, a handful of prefectures reported record daily cases, and it’s likely the total confirmed infections for the day will be a new national record topping 4,000, according to domestic media reports.

Tokyo metropolitan government sources reportedly said that new cases have topped 1,300, far eclipsing the previous record of 949 cases logged last Saturday, as the city continues to grapple with consistently rising infections.

The capital city's cumulative total of infections surpassed the 60,000-mark.

At an extraordinary press conference on the matter, Koike warned that Tokyo was in the grip of a third wave of infections and urged people to refrain from holding New Year and other parties, saying the situation is at a "crossroads."

Koike urged people to spend the holidays quietly at home and not to hold parties.

Japan’s Imperial Household Agency has cancelled an annual New Year’s event set for Jan 2, at which Emperor Naruhito and other imperial family members were to greet well-wishers, because of the pandemic.

Shrines have asked people to stagger visits on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. East Japan Railway Company and Tokyo Metro are canceling extra train services in the Tokyo metropolitan areas from late on Dec 31 to Jan 1. 

Pedestrians walk on a street as snow falls in Fukuoka on Dec 30, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

Armenia 

Armenia on Thursday reported 531 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 159,409, according to the country's National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

Data from the NCDC showed that 957 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the country to 142,801.

Australia 

Australia will ring in the new year with harsher restrictions on movement, gatherings and internal borders as the country’s two largest states battle to quash fresh COVID-19 cases in their capital cities.

Ten new cases were reported overnight in Sydney, with a cluster on the Northern Beaches growing to 144, and a second group of infections in the city’s inner west rising to nine, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters Thursday.

Authorities have tightened rules ahead of New Year’s Eve, hoping to avert community transmission, as cases are expected to rise in the coming days because of family gatherings and traveling during the holidays.

Neighboring Victoria state, which had gone 61 days without recording community transmission of the virus, said six cases had been detected. The outbreaks in the two states are likely connected, with a returned traveler from New South Wales attending a Thai restaurant in Melbourne that’s linked to other new infections in the city. Victoria limited household gatherings to 15 people and said mask-wearing at indoor venues would be mandatory starting Thursday.

Meanwhile, South Australia state on Thursday said rising infections in Sydney have led it to put up a hard border with NSW starting Friday, with only returning residents, essential workers and people relocating to the state allowed entry.

Australia has reported just over 28,400 COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began.

Singapore

In Singapore’s downtown Marina Bay, there will be no fireworks to ring in the New Year for the first time since the annual tradition began in 2005. Instead, fireworks will be set off at different locations across the Southeast Asian city-state

Singapore’s Ministry of Health reported 27 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 58,569.

Altogether 29 people have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection. 

ALSO READ: 1st batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arrives in Turkey

Iran

A senior Iranian official said Wednesday that no negative symptoms have been reported after the human trial of an Iranian COVID-19 vaccine in the last 24 hours, Iran Press news website reported.

On Tuesday, the human trials of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Iranian researchers started with the injection on 56 volunteers.

The next trial phase of the vaccine would be 28 days later "if everything goes well," Deputy of Iran's Health Minister Alireza Raisi told Iran Press.

If the vaccine goes through all stages, it would be reliable, he said, adding that Iran can mass produce its own vaccine in next spring.  

Iranian health authorities announced on Thursday 6,390 new COVID-19 confirmed infections, taking the total number to 1,225,143 in the country, state TV reported.

Of the newly infected in the past 24 hours, 702 had to be hospitalized, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education Sima Sadat Lari said at her daily briefing.

People wearing face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic walk through a shopping arcade, usually packed with tourists, in the central business district of Sydney on Dec 24, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

Myanmar

Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided on Wednesday to extend temporary entry restrictions for all visitors to the end of January.

The ministry issued an announcement of extending the period of precautionary restriction measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 which will expire on Dec. 31.

The extension will also be applied to the temporary suspension of all types of visas and visa exemption services, the ministry said.

According to the Health and Sports Ministry, Myanmar has reported 123,470 COVID-19 cases with 2,664 deaths as of Wednesday.

Some 106,121 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals so far.

READ MORE: State TV: Iran starts clinical trials of its own COVID-19 vaccine

Iraq

The Iraqi authorities decided Wednesday to ban gatherings on the upcoming New Year Eve, as the ministry of health reported 901 new COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total nationwide infections to 594,442.

The ministry of interior will implement the decisions of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, which prevented gatherings after certain hours of the evening and closed crowded places, spokesman of the ministry, Khalid al-Mahana, said in a press release.

In a similar move, on Dec. 16, the Iraqi authorities banned Christmas celebrations to prevent further spread of infections with COVID-19 in the country.

Meanwhile, a statement by the ministry of health reported eight new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,808, and 1,547 more recovered cases, bringing the total recoveries to 536,348.

Sri Lanka

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured that a qualified vaccine can be made available for Sri Lanka by March, the local Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday.

During high-level discussions held in Colombo on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan government informed the WHO that it had begun to improve cold chain requirements for the storage of doses ahead of inoculation.

Sri Lanka is primarily getting ready for a vaccine to be stored at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius. However, a senior medical official quoted in the report said the cold storage facilities would be improved at hospital levels to accommodate vaccines required to be kept at minus level temperature if the need arises.

Sri Lanka is presently discussing whether to import the Pfizer vaccine from the United States, Oxford-AstraZeneca from Britain or Sputnik V vaccine from Russia, army chief and head of the National Operation Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Gen. Shavendra Silva said.

Israel

Israel is carefully husbanding supplies as it races to vaccinate all vulnerable citizens by late January and push for an early exit from the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said on Thursday.

Authorities started vaccinations on Dec. 19, and are now giving more than 150,000 shots a day. Their top priority are the quarter of Israel’s 9 million people who are over 60, suffer from risky medical conditions or are health workers.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 5,629 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 414,967.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 3,304 with 47 new fatalities. The total recoveries rose to 370,425 after 3,344 new recovered cases were added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel's ministerial coronavirus committee decided to cancel the sweeping requirement to quarantine in designated hotels for arriving passengers from abroad, the Prime Minister's Office and the Health Ministry said in a joint statement.

Instead, people returning from any country will be able to quarantine at home or in another place where it is possible to maintain the quarantine conditions other than designated hotels, subject to a coronavirus test carried out upon arrival.

Kuwait

Kuwait's COVID-19 cases increased by 205 to 150,298 on the same day, while the death toll rose by one to 933.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 228 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 146,284.

Oman

The Omani health ministry on Wednesday announced 86 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 128,719, the official Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

Meanwhile, 258 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 121,614, while no new deaths were reported, keeping the tally at 1,497, according to a ministry statement quoted by ONA.

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry on Wednesday announced 193 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 143,621, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

Meanwhile, 153 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 141,300, while the fatalities remained 245 for the second day running, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.

Palestine

Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila told a news briefing in Ramallah that the ministry recorded 21 deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,500 in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.

"Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Palestinian territories in March, the ministry recorded 154,097 cases, including 1,500 deaths, 130,762 had recovered, and 21,835 active cases," al-Kaila said.

Lebanon

Lebanon recorded on Wednesday the highest daily increase in COVID-19 infections of 2,878, bringing the total number of cases to 177,996, the Health ministry reported. Meanwhile, the number of death toll went up by 13 to 1,443.

The country also recorded 978 new recoveries, which brings the total number of recoveries to 126,460.

South Korea

South Korea reported 967 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 60,740.

The daily caseload fell below 1,000 in three days, but it hovered above 100 for 54 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, 365 were Seoul residents and 219 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-seven were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,385.

Twenty-one more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 900. The total fatality rate stood at 1.48 percent.

The globally famous band BTS is holding an online concert on Thursday night in South Korea.

Elsewhere in South Korea, the government has shut down the beaches in Gangueng, on the country’s east coast, where people traditionally go to watch the first sunrise of the New Year. Seoul’s Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony was canceled for the first time since 1953, but can be viewed “virtually” on the city’s website.

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 2,525 new COVID-19 infections in the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 113,010, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that 13 of the new cases are imported and 2,512 are local transmissions.

Another eight deaths were reported, pushing the total deaths to 471.

Some 1,481 more patients were released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 88,941, or 78.7 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 23,598 active cases, 131 are being held in intensive care and 60 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

Indonesia 

A total of 1.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine made by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech on Thursday arrived in Indonesia, according to Indonesian government officials.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said this is the second batch of the Sinovac vaccine delivery for Indonesia, and that the first batch of 1.2 million doses arrived on Dec. 6.

"With this arrival, it means that there are already 3 million doses of Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia," Marsudi told a virtual press conference.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 8,074 within one day to 743,198, with the death toll adding by 194 to 22,138, the health ministry said on Thursday.

According to the ministry, 7,356 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 611,097.

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

Specifically, within the past 24 hours, Jakarta recorded 2,022 new cases, West Java 1,024, Central Java 939, East Java 935 and South Sulawesi 479.

India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said preparations for administering the COVID-19 vaccine in the country were in the last stages as a dry run for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine and overall administration is scheduled to be held across India on Jan. 2, said the federal health ministry on Thursday.

Each state should designate at least three sites for the dry run, said an official statement. The sites in some states will include places with poor logistical support.

The southwestern state of Maharashtra and the southern state of Kerala are likely to carry out the dry-run in major cities other than their capitals.

Ahead of the dry run, the federal government has asked all states to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine to roll out, added the official statement.

In the national capital New Delhi, the gathering of more than five people at public places will not be allowed from 11pm (local time) on Thursday to 6 am on Friday and also from 11 pm on Friday to 6 am on Saturday, reported state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) Thursday.

However, there were no restrictions in Goa, a small state along India’s western coast known for its grand beach parties during Christmas and New Year. Media have reported people arriving in Goa in droves during the past week.

Thailand 

Thailand on Thursday recorded 194 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases to 6,884, official data showed.

Of the new cases, 181 were domestic ones, including nine Myanmar migrants linked to pandemic-spreading Samut Sakhon, and 13 others were under quarantine upon arrival from abroad, according to Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesperson of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration.

Of the total tally, 4,869 were local infections, with 1,392 detected among Myanmar migrants, while 2,015 others were quarantined arrivals, Taweesin said.

Vietnam

Vietnam, which has had just 1,456 infections and 35 deaths from the coronavirus disease, decided against additional measures for the New Year. The wearing of masks in public places remains compulsory, but otherwise, firework displays and parties in major cities are due to go ahead without restrictions on the number of attendees.

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported 1,014 new COVID-19 cases and 28 new deaths on Thursday, making the tally at 513,510 and the death toll at 7,559, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 13,254 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 457,459 including 1,389 new recoveries on Thursday, said the DGHS.