A Palestinian traveler waits for his papers to be checked at the almost empty departure hall of the border crossing with Jordan, in the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, on Jan 28, 2021. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

TOKYO / KABUL / MOSCOW / MELBOURNE / DHAKA / DUBAI / SINGAPORE / KUALA LUMPUR / RAMALLAH - Israel said on Monday it supplied the Palestinians with their first shipment of COVID-19 shots, totalling 2,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine.

The vaccines were transferred into the occupied West Bank and will be used by Palestinian Authority medical teams, according to a statement by COGAT, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials declined to confirm or deny the delivery.

Israel has earmarked an additional 3,000 doses for the Palestinians, said a COGAT spokesman.

Israel has emerged as a world leader in vaccinating its citizens and the Palestinian Authority has separately been trying to secure its own doses. It has ordered a batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

The Palestinians will also be receiving upwards of 35,000 to 40,000 vaccines from the COVAX global vaccine sharing programme in the coming weeks, a World Health Organization official said on Monday.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek the territory for an independent state they hope to set up in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Afghanistan

A total of 62 new COVID-19 cases have been registered in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, bringing the caseload to 55,121 in the country, said a statement of Public Health Ministry released on Monday.

According to the statement, one patient has died due to the disease over the period, totaling the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 2,405 since the February outbreak of the disease in the country.

Armenia

Armenia’s health ministry has approved the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for domestic use, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said on Monday.

Other countries that have approved the vaccine so far include Algeria, the Palestinian Territories, Venezuela, Serbia, Argentina and Guinea.

Australia

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has detailed his plan for all Australians to receive coronavirus vaccines by October.

In his first speech at the National Press Club in 2021, Morrison said on Monday that the vaccine rollout will be one of the biggest logistical challenges in Australian history.

Under the rollout plan he said that every Australian will be offered the opportunity to be vaccinated by October.

"We strongly encourage all Australians to get vaccinated," he said in the speech in Canberra.

The inoculation programme will cost at least A$6.3 billion (US$4.8 billion), Morrison said on Monday.

Australia - which until Sunday had gone two weeks without any locally acquired cases of COVID-19 - is expected to begin administering vaccines this month.

Pfizer's vaccine, of which Australia has acquired 10 million doses, will be the first to be administered from late February.

Besides, Australia has secured 53.8 million doses of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, 50 million of which will be manufactured locally by biotechnology company CSL.

Another 51 million doses from Novavax will be made available later in 2021 pending clinical trials.

Several Australian states and territories have imposed border restrictions on travelers from Western Australia (WA) on Monday after a quarantine security guard tested positive to COVID-19 and triggered a hard lockdown in the state.

Australian politicians including the minister for defence have been forced into quarantine in Canberra following a lockdown introduced in Western Australia (WA)'s Perth due to the detection of a positive COVID-19 case in a hotel quarantine worker.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh recorded 443 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 10 new deaths on Monday, bringing its total tally to 535,582 with 8,137 deaths, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 12,475 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

Cambodia 

Cambodia confirmed one new imported COVID-19 case on Monday, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 466, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.

The new case was detected on a 20-year-old Cambodian woman returning via land border on Jan. 15, the statement said.

"Her sample was taken for a lab test for the third time (on Sunday) and the result showed that the woman was positive for COVID-19," it said, adding that she is currently undergoing treatment at the Pailin Provincial Referral Hospital.

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,757,610 on Monday as 11,427 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, the latest data from the federal health ministry showed.

According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 154,392 as 118 COVID-19 patients died since Sunday morning.

There are 168,235 active cases in the country, while 10,434,983 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.

The nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off on Jan. 16. So far more than 3.7 million people, mainly health workers, have been vaccinated across the country.

Indonesia 

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 10,994 within one day to 1,089,308, with the death toll adding by 279 to 30,277, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

According to the ministry, 10,461 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 883,682.

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

Specifically, within the past 24 hours, Jakarta recorded 3,614 new cases, West Java 2,966, Central Java 974, East Java 693 and South Sulawesi 649.

Iran

Iran reported 6,268 daily COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,417,999.

The pandemic has so far claimed 57,959 lives in Iran, up by 70 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

A total of 1,210,051 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 3,932 remain in intensive care units, she added.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 714 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide tally to 619,636.

It also recorded six new deaths from the virus, raising the death toll in Iraq to 13,047, and 1,272 more recoveries, taking the total recoveries to 592,129.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the countries and companies producing COVID-19 vaccines to expedite the delivery of the vaccines to Iraq.

He stressed the need for the ministry to communicate with China to discuss the delivery of the Sinopharm vaccine as it has been approved for use.

Israel

Israel's cabinet decided late on Sunday to extend an ongoing 36-day nationwide lockdown until Friday in an effort to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

The ministers voted in favor of extending the measure at least until Friday, a government spokesman confirmed to Xinhua.

The lockdown, first imposed on Dec. 27, is Israel's third nationwide lockdown since the pandemic first emerged in Israel in late February, 2020. During the lockdown, people cannot go 1,000 meters far from their homes with exceptions for essential workers and those who are getting vaccinated or purchasing food.

Israel has agreed to provide some 5,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

Israeli media reported that the vaccines will be used for Palestinian medical workers. The move came after United Nations officials and human rights groups urged Israel to provide vaccines to the Palestinians.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 4,227 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number in the country to 643,006.

People sit as they take part in a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccination drill at the Kawasaki City College of Nursing in Kawasaki on Jan 27, 2021. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)

Japan

Japan's lower house of parliament on Monday approved bills making it possible for the government to impose fines on people and businesses thwarting requests to follow the country's measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Initial plans to introduce prison sentences for COVID-19 patients in Japan refusing to be hospitalized were abandoned last week by ruling and main opposition parties following criticism that the punishment was too severe.

Japan will extend its month-long state of emergency over COVID-19 that came into effect early last month for regions where outbreaks of the virus have been rampant including Tokyo and other major urban areas to March 7, local media reported Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who first declared the state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures on Jan 7 before it being expanded to cover a total of 11 prefectures hard hit by the novel coronavirus, will finalize the extension details after consulting with a panel of experts on Tuesday, informed sources said.

The Japanese government is making preparation ahead of the planned rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations by late February. However, the progress is facing a series of challenges such as securing enough venues and medical staff, as well as logistical and coordination hurdles.

The central government has made provisions for the Asian country to receive a total of 310 million doses from the vaccine makers of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna.

Jordan 

Jordan announced 1,181 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths, taking its tally of infections to 326,855 and its death toll to 4,316. The total recoveries from the disease rose by 1,030 to 314,581 in the kingdom.

Kuwait 

Kuwait reported 635 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections to 165,257, while the death toll remained at 959.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 527 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 157,931.

Kuwait will receive 200,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, the Ministry of Health announced Sunday.

Abdullah Al-Bader, assistant undersecretary for drug and food control affairs at the ministry, said the ministry has authorized the vaccine for emergency use to protect people from the coronavirus.

READ MORE: Japan discovers new types of UK coronavirus strain

Lebanon

Lebanon recorded on Sunday 2,139 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 301,052; Meanwhile, Israel agreed to provide some 5,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Palestinian Authority.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported 51 new deaths from the infectious virus, raising Lebanon's total COVID-19 death toll to 3,082.

On Sunday, former Lebanese parliament member Michel Murr died of coronavirus complications at the age of 89.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 4,214 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 219,173, the health ministry said on Monday.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that nine of the new cases are imported and 4,205 are local transmissions.

Another 10 deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 770.

Mongolia 

Mongolia on Monday reported 35 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its total infections to 1,814, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said.

The latest confirmed cases were locally transmitted or detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, the NCCD said in a statement.

Meanwhile, 25 more patients were discharged from hospitals after full recovery, bringing its total recoveries to 1,358, it said.

Oman

The Omani Health Ministry reported 598 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the tally of confirmed cases in the sultanate to 134,326.

It also confirmed that the total recoveries increased by 282 to 126,854, while its death toll rose by two to 1,529, the ministry said in a statement. 

Pakistan 

A plane carrying Chinese donation of COVID-19 vaccines for Pakistan has arrived in the country, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan said on Monday.

Sultan expressed his gratitude to China on Twitter for sending Sinopharm vaccines to Pakistan, adding that the frontline healthcare workers will be the first one to be vaccinated.

According to the health ministry, the vaccine doses will be formally handed over to the Pakistani side at a ceremony to be held later in the day. 

Qatar

In Qatar, the health ministry announced 351 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the Gulf country to 151,335.

The total recoveries in Qatar surged by 138 to 145,806, while the death toll remained unchanged at 248 for two weeks, according to a ministry statement.

This photo taken on Jan 20, 2021 shows a staff member shelving pharmaceutical products inside the coldroom storage at the Zuellig Pharma facility in Singapore. (PHOTO / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore will prioritize migrant workers’ vaccinations, as their communal living and working conditions put them at higher risk of infections and formation of large clusters, Tan See Leng, second minister for manpower, said in Parliament on Monday. Tan said those in higher-risk dorm accommodations will be vaccinated first.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 29 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 59,536.

All of the new cases are imported cases.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 15 cases in the week before to three cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from three cases in the week before to two cases in the past week.

On Sunday, 32 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 59,228 have fully recovered from the infection, the ministry said.

South Korea

South Korea reported 305 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 78,508.

The daily caseload was the lowest in 70 days since Nov. 23 due mainly to a lower number of tests over the weekend.

The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 104 were Seoul residents and 89 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

South Korea reported seven more cases of COVID-19 variants for the past week, bringing the total number of such cases to 34, the health authorities said Monday.

Eleven more US soldiers and two civilians in South Korea tested positive for COVID-19, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday.

The USFK said in a statement that 13 USFK-affiliated individuals were confirmed with COVID-19 after arriving in South Korea between Jan. 15 and 29.

Thailand

Thailand reported 836 new COVID-19 cases, of which 832 were local infections, according to Apisamai Srirangsan, the country’s Covid-19 spokeswoman. “There will be more active case-finding efforts this week, so daily reports may still show high numbers,” she said.

Thailand’s Covid-19 task force last week approved loosening restrictions across the country to allow businesses and schools to resume operations. The country is facing its biggest wave of infections since the pandemic started.

People wait to receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine provided by the Maccabi Health vaccination centre inside the parking lot of the Givatayim mall in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on Jan 26, 2021.  (PHOTO / AFP)

The Philippines

The Philippines is negotiating for 178 million coronavirus vaccine doses, enough to inoculate 92 million people, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said.

The amount is more than the target of 148 million doses to take into account delays in the delivery of the orders, Dominguez said in a live-streamed briefing on Monday night. The government has secured US$1.4 billion of funding from multilateral agencies, he said.

The government expects about 3 million doses to arrive in February with the bulk to be received in the third and fourth quarters, said Carlito Galvez, who leads the vaccination program.

The government will prioritize healthcare workers and uniformed personnel this quarter, before focusing on the economic frontliners such as drivers and food services personnel in the second quarter.

The country's Department of Health (DOH) earlier on Monday reported 1,658 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 527,272.

The death toll climbed to 10,807 after 58 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added 27 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 487,574.

The Philippines, with a population about 110 million, has tested over 7.3 million people since the disease emerged in January last year.

Turkey

Turkey, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, confirmed 6,562 new COVID-19 cases, including 641 symptomatic patients, and 128 more deaths from the virus, pushing its tally of infections to 2,477,463 and its death toll to 25,993.

The total number of recoveries from the coronavirus in Turkey soared by 7,006 to 2,362,415.

ALSO READ: S. Korea to extend virus curbs into Lunar New Year holidays

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 31 new cases of COVID-19 infection between 6 am and 6 pm local time on Monday, including one imported and 30 locally transmitted, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new infections brought the total confirmed cases in the country to 1,850 with 35 deaths.

Among the domestically transmitted cases, 17 were detected in the northern Hai Duong province, five in northern Vietnam's Quang Ninh province, four in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, two in the central highlands Gia Lai province and one each in the northern Bac Giang province and the southern Binh Duong province, said the ministry.