Staff check a client at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan 8, 2022. (MARK BAKER / AP)

CANBERRA / HANOI / MANILA / JAKARTA / SINGAPORE / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / TOKYO / WELLINGTON / NEW DELHI / SUVA - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Australia since the start of the pandemic has surpassed 10 million.

There were more than 8,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 10 deaths reported across Australia on Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, a total of 10,005,838 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 13,759 deaths, and approximately 119,498 active cases, according to the latest data from the Department of Health.

Of the total cases, more than 9.5 million, or 95 percent, were reported in 2022.

The death toll in 2022 has also accounted for more than 80 percent of all Australia's COVID-19 deaths.

There have been more cases among Australians aged 20-29 than any other aged group followed by those between 30 and 39.

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state with Sydney as the capital city, has had more than 3.4 million total cases, and the second-most populous state, Victoria, has had more than 2.5 million.

Federal, state and territory leaders will discuss the nation's ongoing response to the pandemic at a national cabinet meeting this week.

Ahead of the meeting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that leaders would address whether COVID-19 restrictions were "right for the times", but acknowledged hospitals were "still under tremendous strain" from COVID-19.

Separately, Australia's national science agency has identified a list of ways to better prepare for pandemics as the country continues to fight COVID-19 infections in winter.

In a report published on Tuesday, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) made 20 recommendations for strengthening Australia's pandemic preparedness.

The recommendations pertained to six key areas; preclinical capabilities for medical treatments, vaccine manufacturing, data sharing, therapeutic repurposing and antivirals, point of care diagnostics, and genomic analysis of pathogens and their variants.

The report, which was composed with input from more than 140 experts, said limited understanding of viruses with pandemic potential made responding with medical countermeasures in a short time frame difficult.

It called for gaps between research, industry and the health system to be bridged and for the domestic manufacturing of vaccines to be diversified.

Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant at Suri Seri Begawan Raja Pengiran Anak Damit Mosque in an effort to counter the spread of the COVID-19 in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei on March 17, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

Brunei

runei logged a daily average of 205 new COVID-19 cases in the past week compared to 283 cases per day the week before, the health ministry said on Monday.

According to the health ministry's weekly briefing, 57,905 Antigen Rapid Test (ART) results were uploaded to the government platform within one week, with 2.4 percent of them being positive.

Currently, one hospitalized case is held in the intensive care unit and three cases require assisted breathing, according to the health ministry.

As of Aug 28, 77.1 percent of Brunei's population have received three doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while 9.4 percent have taken the fourth dose.

Fiji

Fiji has reported another COVID-19-related death, bringing the death toll in the island nation to 878 since it recorded the first confirmed COVID-19 case in March 2020.

Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong confirmed the death of a four-year-old boy who was admitted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva due to respiratory distress and died Wednesday.

Fong said the boy did not belong to the vaccine-eligible group and he was not vaccinated.

Since the last update on Friday, 37 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the island nation, including 10 cases in the central part of the country and 27 cases in the western part of Viti Levu, Fiji's main island.

Indonesia

Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has been diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday and is working from home while he isolates himself and recuperates.

This is the first time the 58-year-old minister has been confirmed for COVID-19 since he took office in December 2020. Sadikin has informed those who interacted with him in recent days and asked them to immediately carry out swab tests and self-isolation.

"Because anyone can catch and transmit COVID-19. It is our duty and responsibility to help break the chain of transmission," said the minister.

Cases of coronavirus infections have been surging recently in the archipelago, although most people, including Sadikin, have been fully vaccinated.

The Health Ministry reported on Monday that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose by 2,871 in the past 24 hours, which brings the total tally to 6.34 million.

India

India's daily COVID-19 caseload Tuesday fell to 5,439, taking the total tally to 44,421,162 in the country, according to federal health ministry data released on Tuesday.

With the reporting of fresh cases, India's active caseload currently stands at 65,732.

The country also logged 30 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 527,829 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

This photo shows a general view of the offices of British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC in Macclesfield, Cheshire on July 21, 2020. (PAUL ELLIS / AFP)

Japan

Japan's health ministry said on Monday that its panel of experts had agreed to approve manufacturing and sales of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 preventive treatment Evusheld.

Evusheld is designed to protect against COVID infection for at least six months, and has been deployed in many countries for people with compromised immune systems who see little or no benefit from vaccines.

The panel also gave its consent to using Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for booster shots for children aged five to 11, the ministry said.

New Zealand

New Zealand recorded 2,464 new community cases of COVID-19 and 11 more deaths from the pandemic, the country's Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide more than a month ago.

With the fresh cases, New Zealand has reported 1,722,403 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,884 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.

Philippines

The Philippines reported 2,573 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 3,877,110.

The Department of Health (DOH) said the number of active cases fell to 27,497, while 53 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the death toll to 61,720.

Metro Manila, the capital region with over 13 million people, tallied 891 new cases.

A notice warning people not to gather in groups larger than five persons as part of restrictions to hald the spread of the coronavirus is displayed at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Jan 4, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore reported 1,410 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total tally to 1,834,190.

Of the new cases, 198 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 1,212 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 180 were local transmissions and 18 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 1,128 local transmissions and 84 imported cases.

No deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Monday, making the total death toll stay unchanged at 1,591, the ministry said.

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 2,409 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, up 704 from Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.

The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,405,711. The country reported one new death from the pandemic in the northern Hai Duong province on Monday, bringing the total fatality to 43,113.

As of Monday, there were 91 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.