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Monday, January 18, 2021, 22:55
Indonesia sees nearly 10,000 new cases, virus spreads to all regions
By Agencies
Monday, January 18, 2021, 22:55 By Agencies

A soldier receives the Sinovac vaccine against the COVID-19 coronavirus at a community health centre in Lambaro, Indonesia's Aceh province on Jan 18, 2021. (CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP)

SYDNEY / BAGHDAD / BEIRUT / NEW DELHI / TOKYO / BAKU - The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 9,086 in the past 24 hours to 917,015, with the death toll adding by 295 to 26,282, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

According to the ministry, 9,475 more patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 745,935.

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

Specifically, in the past 24 hours, Jakarta recorded 2,361 new cases, Central Java 1,559, West Java 1,485, East Java 848 and South Sulawesi 661.

No more coronavirus infections were detected in the two provinces of West Kalimantan and West Sulawesi.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates has suspended an agreement to inaugurate visa-free travel for Israelis to the Gulf country until July 1, citing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.

Until then, Israeli citizens seeking to travel to the UAE will need to obtain a visa, as will UAE citizens seeking to travel to Israel, the ministry said on Monday. The UAE has taken a similar step regarding travel from most European countries, as well as India and Pakistan, the Israeli ministry said.

Israel is in its third lockdown and discussing the possibility of extending it beyond Jan. 21 as the number of new cases remains high.

The UAE ratified the agreement on visa-free travel with Israel last week and it was set to go into effect 30 days from then. The agreement follows a normalization accord between the countries signed in September.

The announcement of the suspension comes a day after Israel’s cabinet voted to require all people returning from the UAE and Brazil to quarantine in government-run hotels. A similar decision made previously regarding travelers returning from South Africa and Zambia was extended for 10 days.

A security guard takes the temperature of a customer at a shopping precinct in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 3, 2021. (MARK BARKER / AP)

Australia 

Australia may not fully reopen its international borders this year even if most of the population is vaccinated against coronavirus, the head of its health department said on Monday as the country recorded zero local COVID-19 cases.

Australian authorities are also looking at potential adverse effects of the Pfizer vaccine after Norway reported a small number of deaths in old people who received the shot.

Australia, which has managed the coronavirus better than many other nations through targeted lockdowns and high rates of testing and contact tracing, reported zero local COVID-19 cases on Monday.

Victoria, which is hosting the Australian Open, reported four positive cases in overseas travellers, all associated with the tennis, taking the total to nine.

The cases have prompted authorities to send three Australian Open charter flights into hard quarantine, forcing more than 70 players into a 14-day hotel room isolation.

Australia has reported more than 22,000 local COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan's senior health officials on Monday took their first inoculations of a vaccine made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, marking the beginning of mass vaccination against COVID-19 in the country, according to state-run news agency AZERTAC.

Azerbaijani Health Minister Ogtay Shiraliyev and his deputies, as well as other health officials, were among the first to be vaccinated by what Shahmar Movsumov, an assistant to the president of Azerbaijan, earlier described as "the most safe and effective vaccine" procured by Azerbaijan.

The first stage of mass vaccination starting on Jan 18 will cover health and technical workers at the country's medical institutions, law enforcement staff and servicemen, while people aged over 65 will be vaccinated starting from Feb 1, according to health authorities.

Japan

Japanese doctors have detected a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus first discovered in Britain in three people who had not travelled there, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

The three, aged from their 20s to their 60s and living in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 km west of Tokyo, first had symptoms in early January, the ministry said.

A health ministry official said that the authorities are looking into how the three became infected but that there was no proof yet that the variant first detected in Britain was spreading in Shizuoka now.

Japan has so far detected 45 cases of new variants of the virus that were first spotted in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday his government will take all possible measures to protect the country's medical system, as hospitals creak under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are all ready to deploy the Self-Defence Forces' medical team if requested by governors."

"What is important is to provide necessary medical services to people in need. We will exhaust all measures to safeguard the medical system," Suga said in his policy speech at the start of a regular session of parliament.

Japan, though less seriously hit by the pandemic than many other advanced economies, has seen infections spike in recent weeks, prompting Japan Medical Association president Toshio Nakagawa to say the nation's medical system is collapsing.

Suga said on Monday that he had instructed Taro Kono, administrative reform minister, to also handle coordination of the government’s preparations for delivering the coronavirus vaccine.

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga puts on his face mask after a press conference on the COVID-19 in Tokyo on Dec 25, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

South Korea

South Korea President Moon Jae-in said he believes South Korea has secured ample vaccines and that the country may reach herd immunity by November at the latest.

“I think that we will become a country that can quickly recover our daily lives and economy by succeeding in quarantining and overcoming the crises ahead of any other country in the world,” Moon said during his annual New Year’s press conference.

South Korea reported 389 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, compared with 520 the previous day, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s website. The number is the lowest since Nov 29.

ALSO READ: Indonesia president: Vaccination game changer to control virus

Singapore

Several foreign airlines have received approval from Singapore to transit passengers at Changi Airport to other destinations, a move to revive the city-state’s air hub after being battered by travel restrictions amid the pandamic, the Straits Times reported.

Under Singapore transit rules, passengers will have to remain in designated facilities in the transit area. But those who come from places that Singapore have unilaterally opened its borders to, such as China and Vietnam, are exempted from the rule.

Israel

Israel will begin gradually reopening its economy from February, and much of it will be active by March, Finance Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.

As of Sunday morning, 1,772 soldiers and IDF civilian employees have been diagnosed with Covid-19, the Jerusalem Post reported. In addition, 12,196 are in home isolation. Some 31,110 soldiers have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine so far.

The number of COVID-19 death cases in Israel has reached 4,005, the state's Ministry of Health said on Sunday night.

The latest update added 16 deaths from the virus in Israel since the ministry's previous update earlier on Sunday.

The number of coronavirus cases in Israel has reached 548,332, of which 81,044 are active cases, while the number of recoveries rose to 463,283.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Sunday 645 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 608,232.

The ministry also reported nine new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,944, and 1,531 more recovered cases, bringing the total recoveries to 569,429.

A total of 5,119,479 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February, with 36,483 done during the day, according to the statement.

READ MORE: India launches 'one of world's largest' vaccination drives

Lebanon

Lebanon registered on Sunday 3,654 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of cases to 252,812 in the country, the Health Ministry reported.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus increased by 40 to 1,906 in Lebanon.

The office of Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Sunday that the minister has signed the final contract with Pfizer and BioNTech to secure the purchase of over 2 million vaccines which are expected to arrive gradually starting in February.

Lebanon has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic since Feb. 21 in last year.

Myanmar

The number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 134,318 as of Sunday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Sports.

A total of 449 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Sunday.

The death toll of COVID-19 reached 2,955 with 13 newly reported on Sunday in the country, the statement said.

According to the ministry's figures, a total of 117,663 patients have been discharged from the hospitals and over 2.13 million samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far.

New Zealand

New Zealand has reported six new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation since the last media statement on Sunday.

There are no new cases in the community. One of the new cases is classified as historical and deemed not infectious, said a health ministry statement on Monday.

Three previously reported cases have now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 85, and the total number of confirmed cases is 1,906, the statement said.

Malaysia

Malaysia unveiled a 15 billion ringgit (US$3.7 billion) in new assistance package to help the economy weather the impact from a fresh surge in coronavirus cases.

The plan, which includes cash support to the poor, tax breaks and wage subsidies, will help bolster the existing initiatives aimed at helping people blunt the economic impact of the pandemic, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address Monday.

The measures come a week after Malaysia declared a state of emergency, allowing the government to enact immediate laws to contain the pandemic and support the economy. The move had raised concerns about the government’s ability to stoke activity amid limited fiscal space and a relatively high debt load.

The package amounts to 1.1 percent of gross domestic product and the “relatively conservative amount is essentially a sign that fiscal space to do large-scale stimulus is limited,” said Wellian Wiranto, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. “Any impact on the overall budget deficit figure is likely to be contained.”

Malaysia is experiencing a fresh surge of Covid infections that has stretched its health system to the breaking point. The country recorded a record 4,029 cases Saturday and doesn’t expect to flatten the infection curve until May. The nation’s immunization plan is on track, with the first batch of vaccines set to roll out in early March, Muhyiddin said.

A health worker personnel wearing a protective suits conduct COVID-19 test at a drive-thru center outside the Ajwa Private Clinic in Shah Alam on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur  on Jan 13, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)

Mongolia 

Mongolia recorded nine new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 1,526, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Monday.

"A total of 9,115 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across Mongolia yesterday and nine of them were positive," said Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the center's Surveillance Department, at a press conference.

As of Monday, 967 patients have recovered, including the 20 recoveries reported in the same period, said Ambaselmaa.

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,571,773 on Monday even as 13,788 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, according to the latest data from the federal health ministry.

According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 152,419 as 145 COVID-19 patients died since Sunday morning.

There are still 208,012 active cases in the country, while 10,211,342  people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.

Saturday was a crucial day in India's fight against the pandemic as the nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off during the day.

Till Sunday a total of 224,301 beneficiaries have been vaccinated, out of whom 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated on Sunday alone.

A total of 447 cases of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFIs) after the COVID-19 vaccination have been reported over the past two days, out of whom three required hospitalization, India's health ministry said on Sunday.

Thailand 

Thailand on Monday recorded 369 new cases of COVID-19, mostly through active testing in Samut Sakhon province, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Of the total new cases, 357 were domestic infections while 12 others were reported in arrivals from abroad who tested positive after entering Thailand, CCSA spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangsan said.

A total of 269 local infections have been detected in Samut Sakhon, mostly being migrants, Apisamai said.

The Philippines

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Monday reported 2,163 new daily confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, the highest in more than two months in this Southeast Asian country.

The last time the daily new cases in the Philippines exceeded Monday's number was on Nov. 8, 2020, which stood at 2,442.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 502,736 so far.

The death toll climbed to 9,909 after 14 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added two more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 465,988.

The Philippines, which has about 110 million population, has tested over 6.84 million people since the disease emerged in January last year.

Kyrgyzstan 

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kyrgyzstan has risen to 83,178, as health authorities confirmed 69 more infections on Monday.

The Republican Headquarters for Combating COVID-19 said that the country has conducted 2,165 coronavirus tests over the past day.

The headquarters also reported the recovery of 110 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 79,104.

Three new deaths were reported over the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 1,387.


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