A medical worker receives the AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Yangon, Myanmar, after the country received 1.5 million doses of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, Jan 27, 2021. (SHWE PAW MYA TIN / REUTERS)

YANGON / KUALA LUMPUR / SEOUL / SINGAPORE / MANILA / HANOI / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD – Myanmar will extend its COVID-19 preventive measures until Oct 31, according to the Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment for COVID-19 on Friday.

The extension is applied to all COVID-19 restrictions that expired on Sept 30, except the ones that will be eased, the committee said in a statement.

The Southeast Asian country confirmed 364 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 623,166, official data showed.

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 reached 19,459 on Friday after one more death was reported in the past 24 hours.

India

India's daily COVID-19 caseload decreased to the 3,805 mark on Saturday, officials said.

According to the health ministry data released on Saturday morning, 3,805 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,591,112 in the country.

The country also logged 26 COVID-19-related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 528,655 since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, the ministry said.

At present, the Indian government is focusing on improving booster dose coverage as the uptake for the third dose has been low. The aim is to boost the immunity of the people in the wake of the detection of new variants. 

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 2,007 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Friday, bringing the national total to 4,840,879, according to the health ministry.

There are 12 new imported cases, with 1,995 cases being local transmissions, data released by the ministry showed.

Another five deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 36,374.

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The country reported 3,315 vaccine doses administered on Friday and 86.1 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 84.2 percent are fully vaccinated and 49.7 percent have received the first booster and 1.5 percent have received the second booster.

Pakistan

Pakistan recorded 75 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the country's ministry of health said on Saturday.

A total of 30,618 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, after two new deaths were reported in the country during the last 24 hours, according to the ministry.

A healthcare worker collects a swab sample from a man to test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a temporary testing site set up at a railway station, in Seoul, South Korea, Dec 8, 2021. (HEO RAN / REUTERS)

Republic of Korea

South Korea reported 26,960 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Friday compared to 24 hours ago

The Republic of Korea reported 26,960 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Friday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 24,796,014, the health authorities said Saturday.

The daily caseload was down from 28,497 in the previous day and lower than 29,336 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 28,828.

Among the new cases, 301 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 67,534.

Singapore

Singapore reported 3,715 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total tally to 1,907,907.

Of the new cases, 365 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 3,350 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 345 were local transmissions and 20 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 3,155 local transmissions and 195 imported cases.

One new death was reported from COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 1,618, the ministry said.  

The Philippines

The Philippines reported 2,489 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,948,040.

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The Department of Health said the number of active cases rose to 29,118, while 31 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 62,947.

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 1,470 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, up 492 from Thursday, 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 11,479,356. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Friday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,148.

As of Friday, there were 107 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.