In this Aug 28, 2020 photo, a vendor sells cigarettes after the government temporarily lifted the ban on tobacco sales in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Thimphu, Bhutan. (UPASANA DAHAL / AFP)

KATHMANDU / GENEVA / PHNOM PENH / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / KUWAIT CITY / BEIRUT / ULAN BATOR / WELLINGTON / DOHA / SEOUL / BANGKOK / MANILA / ANKARA - Thousands of Bhutanese travelled to schools and public buildings for vaccination on Saturday as the Himalayan kingdom launched its nationwide inoculation drive against COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca shots provided by neighbouring India.

Ninda Dema, a 30-year-old woman born in the year of the Monkey as per the Buddhist astrology, became the country’s first to receive the shot at a school-turned vaccination centre in the capital Thimphu, an event that was televised live.

Bhutan has been able to slow the spread of the virus with early screening and monitoring at entry points, testing and sealing of borders.

Total infections stand at 870 with one death from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to government data.

In the week-long campaign the majority-Buddhist nation hopes to inoculate more than half a million people who have registered for being vaccinated.

A country of about 800,000 people Bhutan received 150,000 doses of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India in January.

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Australia

Australia’s Queensland state reported one new locally transmitted case of the virus Saturday. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters that she has asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to halve the state’s overseas arrivals for the next two weeks amid concern of high positive rates among returned travelers. Queensland currently takes 1,300 international arrivals weekly.

Cambodia

Cambodia on Saturday confirmed 179 new COVID-19 cases, the highest-ever one-day number of infections, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.

The figure surpassed the previous highest daily record of 105 cases on March 15.

The new infections included 178 local cases and one imported case. Among the local cases, 143 were in Preah Sihanouk province, 27 in capital Phnom Penh, four in Kandal province, three in Prey Veng province and one in Siem Reap province, the statement said.

A medical worker inoculates a man with the Covaxin COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a health centre in New Delhi on March 25, 2021. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP)

India

India’s decision to make domestic COVID-19 inoculations a priority is “understandable” as the country’s infections rise, but the World Health Organization (WHO) is in talks so it continues providing doses to other countries, the WHO chief said on Friday.

India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, said earlier on Friday it would make domestic COVID-19 inoculations a priority as infections surge and had told international buyers of its decision.

“It is not an export ban from India as far as we know,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “We are already in discussion to keep a balance so that they can use locally but at the same time continue to provide other countries vaccines from the Serum Institute of India.”

India's COVID-19 tally reached 11,908,910 on Saturday as 62,258 new cases were reported from across the country, according to the latest figures released by the federal health ministry.

Besides, 291 deaths since Friday morning took the death toll to 161,240. Both the number of new cases and deaths recorded in past 24 hours is the highest this year so far.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Friday 6,490 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of nationwide infections to 822,095.

The ministry also said that 29 new deaths were recorded, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,157, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,495 to 736,747.

A total of 7,835,444 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 41,790 done during the day, according to the statement.

An Israeli voter casts his vote as electoral workers, clad in a protection gear against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, stand behind a ballot box at a drive-through polling station especially set up for quarantined voters outside the stadium in Jerusalem on March 23, 2021 on the fourth national election in two years. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 622 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising the total confirmed tally in the country to 831,383.

The death toll from the virus reached 6,165 with seven new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 484 to 479, out of 690 hospitalized patients.

Kuwait

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Friday 1,548 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 225,980.

The ministry also announced 12 more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,270, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,253 to 210,024. A total of 14,686 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment, including 242 in the intensive care units.

Lebanon

Lebanon on Friday reported 49 deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 6,013, the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases rose by 3,100, taking the tally of infections to 455,381.

Mongolia

Mongolia reported 361 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the second highest daily number since reporting its first case in March 2020, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Saturday.

Mongolia's State Emergency Commission on Friday decided to extend the travel restriction on roads linking the country's capital Ulan Bator and all 21 provinces by two weeks due to resurging COVID-19 cases.

The restriction was originally scheduled to end on Sunday.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported one new case of COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Saturday.

The new case was a recent overseas returnee who tested positive for COVID-19 after arrival in day-three routine test in managed isolation, said the ministry.

There was also one historical case of COVID-19 reported by the ministry.

"It's important to reiterate that historical cases are not considered to be infectious," said the ministry in the statement.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases of COVID-19 detected at the New Zealand border is four, it is said.

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry on Friday announced 602 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 176,521, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

Meanwhile, 358 more people recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 162,173, while the fatalities increased by one to 282, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.

South Korea

South Korea reported 505 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Friday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 101,275.

The daily caseload was up from 494 in the previous day, rising above 500 in 36 days since Feb 19.

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.

Thailand

Thailand on Saturday confirmed 80 new cases of coronavirus infection, mostly in Bangkok, and one more death, according to a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Of Saturday's new cases, 73 were domestic infections while seven others referred to imported cases, the CCSA report said.

The Philippines

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Saturday 9,595 new COVID-19 infections, raising the nationwide count in the Southeast Asian country to 712,442.

The active cases in the country increased to 118,122 and the death toll to 13,159 after 10 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

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People sit in a park ignoring the wearing of protective face masks and social distancing rules, in Ankara on March 13, 2021. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP)

Turkey

Turkey on Friday confirmed 29,081 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,253 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 3,149,094, according to its health ministry.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 153 to 30,772, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,921,037 after 20,208 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.