Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Jan 6, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM / SUVA / HANOI / COLOMBO / NEW DELHI / SEOUL / SYDNEY - Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the nation's political leaders want to move to a new phase of living with COVID-19 as though it were the flu, but would consult health experts.

A day after meeting with the national cabinet of state and federal leaders, Morrison told reporters on Saturday morning they had discussed moving to "Phase D" of the national pandemic response plan.

"Our airports are open again, international arrivals can come, there are waivers now on quarantine for people returning, so we are pretty much in Phase D," he said.

The leaders wanted to drop the isolation requirement for close contacts of COVID-19 cases and would seek further advice on this from an expert panel, he said.

The isolation rule was "starving businesses of staff", said Morrison, whose conservative government faces an election in May.

"We believe we are pretty much in Phase D now, there are a few exceptions to that. Phase D, remember, means living with the virus like the flu," he said.

Western Australia and the Northern Territory would lag the eastern states by a month in dropping restrictions, he said.

Students walk to attend classes as their school reopened after a gap of nearly one year due to the coronavirus pandemic in Srinagar on March 2, 2022. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP)

India

The Indian government on Friday dismissed a recent study claiming that COVID-19 mortality in India is undercounted as "speculative and misinformed."

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, suggested that 4.07 million people in India are estimated to have died during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, eight times higher than the official number.

The health ministry said in a statement that the data sources used by this study appears to have been taken from newspaper reports and non-peer-reviewed studies, questioning the accuracy of the results.

The health ministry said the reporting of deaths in India was regularly done in a transparent manner. It is daily updated in the public domain on the official website.

"Furthermore, there is a financial incentive in India to report COVID-19 deaths as they are entitled to monetary compensation. Hence, the likelihood of underreporting is less," the statement said.

An Israeli paramedic collects a swab sample from a child at the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) COVID-19 coronavirus testing center in Jerusalem on Jan 11, 2022. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Israel

Israeli health authorities on Friday lifted a COVID-19 testing order among elementary students and kindergarten children.

These students are no longer required to undertake a home test twice a week prior to entering the campus, the Ministry of Health decided.

The ministry has also spared weekly symptom reporting for upper-grade students and their family members in co-living space.

As many as 5,555 new COVID-19 cases were reported across the country on Friday, bringing its total cases to 3,705,825, while the death toll stood at 10,359 with one new fatality.

South Korea

South Korea reported a new record daily high of 383,665 COVID-19 cases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Saturday, amid a surge of Omicron infections.

Sri Lanka Army medic inoculates a woman with a booster shot of the Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Colombo on Feb 1, 2022. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP)

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Education has issued a circular summoning all students to schools from March 14.

Schools can be conducted as they were before the pandemic, according to the circular issued on Thursday by Kapila Perera, secretary to the Ministry of Education.

This marks the end of COVID-19 pandemic measures of limiting the number of students at schools to maintain social distancing.

If schools face a spread of COVID-19, they can consult the Director of Education in the respective area and take necessary action, according to the circular.

On March 4, the ministry had instructed schools to summon limited amounts of students, considering COVID-19 guidelines.

A woman (center) carries a refilled gas container in the center of the capital Nuku'alofa ahead of the country's first lockdown on Feb 2, 2022, after COVID-19 was detected in the previously virus-free Pacific kingdom as it struggles to recover from the deadly Jan 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami. (MARY LYN FONUA / MATANGI TONGA / AFP)

Tonga

Tonga now has a total of 940 active COVID-19 cases, the island nation's health authorities confirmed on Friday.

According to Tonga's news website Matangi Tonga Online, Tonga's Minister for Health Saia Piukala said on Friday that the island nation now has 940 active COVID-19 cases with 442 recoveries.

Tonga reported 39 positive cases following tests carried out on repatriated passengers from New Zealand and Australia this week, he said, adding that the specimens have been sent to New Zealand for confirmation of the variant.

The minister also confirmed the death of a COVID-19 positive case with pre-existing medical conditions.

Vietnam

Vietnam reported 169,114 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, its new daily record, up 8,438 cases from Thursday, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new infections, logged in 61 localities nationwide, included 169,090 domestically transmitted and 24 imported cases.

The infections brought the total tally to 5,448,935 with 41,228 deaths.