A person wearing a protective mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus stands in front of a public awareness notice for COVID-19 protection in Shinjuku district on July 14, 2022, in Tokyo. (EUGENE HOSHIKO / AP)

TOKYO / JAKARTA / SINGAPORE / HANOI / MANILA / SEOUL / KUALA LUMPUR / WELLINGTON / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD - Japan's new daily COVID-19 cases hit a new record Wednesday, topping the 209,000-mark for the first time as the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant continues to run rampant.

The latest nationwide tally of new daily infections compares to the previous record of around 201,000 COVID-19 cases reached last week as the government grapples to deal with the country's seventh wave of infections.

According to local government and the health ministry's figures, more than half of Japan's 47 prefectures reported record numbers of new daily COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, as the country's health system is feeling the strain.

The rapid surge in cases is crippling emergency transport services in the capital, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said, as Tokyo on Wednesday logged 29,036 new daily cases, which marks an almost 40 percent increase from a week earlier.

Meanwhile, the daily number of COVID-19 cases in Tokyo is set to exceed 40,000 on Thursday, a record high, broadcaster FNN reported citing government sources.

Officials said emergency crews are struggling to find free hospital beds and in the past week, it took more than five hours to find beds for over 80 patients. This comes as they try to respond to an increasing number of heatstroke patients, said NHK.

"New infections have been continuously increasing at a rapid pace to its highest ever level across Japan," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Shigeyuki Goto told a meeting of the ministry's advisory panel of experts.

The government however has maintained its stance that another round of emergency restrictions are not needed.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the government's resources are focused on bolstering the medical system and expanding the eligibility of fourth vaccines, while keeping social and economic activities running.

In the western prefecture of Osaka, however, its alert was raised to the highest of three for the first time in about three months and elderly people were urged to refrain from making nonessential trips outdoors.

India

India's daily COVID-19 caseload Thursday surpassed the 20,000 mark again after remaining below it for the past three days, officials said.

According to federal health ministry data released on Thursday, 20,557 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,959,321 in the country. The active caseload currently stands at 146,323.

The country also logged 44 related deaths during this period, which has pushed the overall death toll to 526,211 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

With the increase in cases, the daily positivity rate stands at 5.18 percent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.71 percent, the ministry data showed.

According to the federal health ministry, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country has exceeded 2 billion doses, and until Thursday morning 2,032,182,347 doses were administered

A woman wearing a mask to curb the spread of coronavirus sits inside a bus in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 17, 2022. (DITA ALANGKARA / AP)

Indonesia

Four million medical workers will receive a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine amid increasing transmissions triggered by the virus' sub-variants in Indonesia, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Wednesday.

Sadikin told local media that administering of the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine started in last August and now it is the time for a new immunity shot.

"So they need a fourth dose to re-strengthen their immune system. We prioritize medical workers," said Sadikin.

The available vaccine stock is sufficient for the use for all medical workers, Sadikin added

The Southeast Asian country has seen a resurgence in cases recently, triggered by the spread of the Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.

Authorities also have detected some cases with the BA.2.75 sub-variant which the World Health Organization has categorized as a Variant of Concern Lineage Under Monitoring.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 4,503 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,664,213, according to the health ministry.

There are six new imported cases, with 4,497 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Another 10 deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 35,942.

New Zealand

New Zealand recorded 7,627 new community cases of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

There are now a total of 1,455 deaths confirmed as attributable to COVID-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor since the pandemic began in New Zealand, it said.

A total of 312 COVID-19 cases have recently traveled overseas, it added.

New Zealand has reported 1,585,215 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020.

Pakistan

Pakistan recorded 761 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the positivity rate to 3.65 percent, the ministry of health said on Thursday.

The new infections were detected after the diagnostic testing of 20,843 samples in the past 24 hours.

With the new infections, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has risen to 1,552,632 in the South Asian country, showed data released by the health ministry.

A total of 30,482 people have died due to COVID-19 in Pakistan, including eight new deaths, according to the ministry.

A child receives the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 as a performer dressed as superhero character Spider-Man looks on at a gym in San Juan City, suburban Manila on Feb 7, 2022. (TED ALJIBE / AFP)

Philippines

The Philippines reported 2,727 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,760,488.

The Department of Health said the number of active cases rose further to 27,754. The death toll remained unchanged at 60,694.

The government is ramping up its vaccination drive amid the sustained uptick in cases. DOH data showed that over 71.4 million Filipinos have been fully-vaccinated with COVID-19 shots as of July 21.

Singapore Airlines stewardesses walk past a giant lollipop candy display at Changi International Airport in Singapore on April 1, 2022, as Singapore reopened its land and air borders to travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. (ROSLOAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore reported 8,763 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 1,685,889.

Of the new cases, 719 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 8,044 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 678 were local transmissions and 41 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 7,742 local transmissions and 302 imported cases.

Three new deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 1,490, the ministry said.

South Korea

South Korea reported 88,384 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 19,535,242, the health authorities said Thursday.

The daily caseload was down from 100,285 the previous day, but it was higher than 71,145 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 75,188.

Twenty-five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 24,957. The total fatality rate was 0.13 percent.

A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 1,761 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, up by 301 from Tuesday, according to its Ministry of Health.

This is the highest daily figure recorded by the country since May 18 this year, according to the ministry.

On the same day, the central Quang Tri province reported 911 previously detected COVID-19 cases.

The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 10,772,980. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Wednesday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,092.