Digital screens showing safety precautions against the coronavirus are seen in a subway train in in Seoul, South Korea on March 22, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)

WELLINGTON / HANOI / SEOUL / MANILA / KUALA LUMPUR / VIENTIANE - South Korea's total coronavirus infections topped 10 million, or nearly 20 percent of its population, authorities said on Wednesday, as surging severe cases and deaths increasingly put a strain on crematories and funeral homes nationwide.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 490,881 cases for Tuesday, the second highest daily tally after it peaked at 621,205 on March 16. The total caseload rose to 10,427,247, with 13,432 deaths, up 291 a day before.

The country's infection and death rates are still far below those recorded elsewhere, as almost 87 percent of its 52 million residents are fully vaccinated and 63 percent have received booster shots.

But the death toll nearly doubled in just about six weeks, with daily fatalities peaking at 429 last Friday, fueling demand for funeral arrangements.

The government on Monday instructed the 60 crematories nationwide to operate for longer hours to burn up to seven bodies from five, and the 1,136 funeral parlours capable of storing some 8,700 bodies to expand their facilities.

Authorities have already boosted the combined daily cremation capacity from about 1,000 to 1,400 per day starting last week. But a large backlog of bodies and a long wait continued to be reported in the densely populated greater Seoul area, Son said.

The number of critically ill patients has been hovering above 1,000 over the past two weeks, but it could go up to 2,000 in early April, another health ministry official Park Hyang said.

Around 64.4 percent of the intensive care unit beds are occupied as of Wednesday, compared with some 59 percent two weeks earlier.

Meanwhile, South Korea's drug safety agency said on Wednesday that it has decided to give emergency approval for the use of Merck & Co Inc's COVID-19 treatment pill for adults, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The molnupiravir tablet, branded as Lagevrio, is the second oral antiviral to be authoriZed in South Korea after Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) Paxlovid.

Laos

The number of daily COVID-19 infections in Laos hit a new high of 2,625, surpassing the previous record of 1,898 cases on Dec 11, 2021, according to the Lao Ministry of Health.

The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control reported 2,595 locally transmitted cases and 30 new imported cases,  Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, deputy director general of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Wednesday.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 21,483 new COVID-19 infections, as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 4,032,435, according to the health ministry.

There are 394 new imported cases, with 21,089 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

A further 73 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 34,535.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media during a press conference on COVID-19 restrictions at Parliament in Wellington on March 23, 2022. (MARTY MELVILLE / AFP)

New Zealand

New Zealand's government said on Wednesday it would lift vaccine mandates for a number of sectors including teaching and police from April 4 as the current COVID-19 outbreak nears its peak.

New Zealand's response to the pandemic won plaudits overseas and kept hospitalizations and deaths low. But public anger over sustained domestic restrictions has grown, reaching a climax earlier this month during violent protests outside the nation's legislature in Wellington.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a news conference that only those working with vulnerable people such as aged care and heath sectors and border workers would need to be vaccinated from April 4.

Vaccine passes would also no longer be mandatory to visit restaurants, coffee shops and other public spaces, she added.

Over 95 percent of New Zealand's population over the age of 12 have now received two vaccinations.

But with more than 500,000 confirmed cases in the country of 5 million, the virus is now widespread.

Ardern said with the peak of the outbreak in New Zealand's largest city Auckland now passed and the rest of country expected to see infections peak before April 5 mandates could soon be lifted.

The move comes a week after the government announced it would be opening the borders for Australians from mid-April and those on visa-vaiver programs from May.

Philippines

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered easing entry of foreign tourists into the country to boost international tourism, increase foreign investments, and restore jobs in the tourism sector, according to an executive order released on Wednesday.

In the order Duterte signed on Monday, he asked the government to relax further the requirements on international travel, including providing quarantine exemptions to vaccinated foreigners entering the country. He also ordered reducing domestic travel restrictions to boost local tourism.

Duterte stressed the need to align the government's economic recovery programs and measures to bring the economy back to the growth path.

"There is an urgent need to adopt policies on economic recovery to sustain current economic gains, minimize the pandemic's long-term adverse effects, and restore the country's development trajectory," read the order.

The measures also include strengthening the healthcare capacity across the country, accelerating and expanding the vaccination program, further reopening the economy and expanding public transport capacity, resuming face-to-face learning, and accelerating digital transformation.

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

Vietnam

Vietnam reported 130,735 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, down 978 cases from Monday, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new infections, logged in 62 localities nationwide, included 130,731 domestically transmitted and four imported.