People wearing face masks walk through the Shibuya scramble crossing in Tokyo, Japan, Jan 21, 2021. (ZHANG XIAOYU / XINHUA)

SEOUL / JERUSALEM / NEW DELHI / BEIRUT / HANOI / SINGAPORE / YANGON / KUALA LUMPUR / PHNOM PENH / WELLINGTON / TOKYO - Japan's Shionogi & Co Ltd said its COVID-19 projects in Vietnam are still progressing, after fraud scandals enveloped its partner there and the health ministry.

Shionogi is carrying out trials of its experimental COVID vaccine and oral treatment in Vietnam, following a memorandum of understanding with the government and Advanced International Joint Stock Co (AIC) in November.

Vietnam's health minister Nguyen Thanh Long was arrested on Tuesday, following dismissal from his post on charges of falsely inflated prices for COVID-19 tests.

AIC's President Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan has reportedly fled Vietnam after authorities there filed charges in late April related to violations of bidding regulations on a hospital project.

"Although we are concerned about this incident, we understand that it is not a crime committed by AIC itself, and we have heard that the incident itself is under investigation," Shionogi said in a statement.

"For the time being, we will continue our development in cooperation with AIC, the CRO (contract research organization), and others under the guidance of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations."

Shionogi's COVID-19 vaccine and oral treatment have yet to be approved, and shrinking numbers of cases in Japan have made it more difficult to test the efficacy of the candidates. Trials for the vaccine started in Vietnam in December, while a study of the pill is underway in Vietnam and South Korea, according to a company presentation in May.

AIC did not respond to a request for comment. Calls to former health minister Long's phone went unanswered. The whereabouts of AIC's Nhan are unknown, though she is suspected to be in Europe.

A person familiar with Vietnamese government issues said the deal with Shionogi and the government appeared to be dead.

"What they signed was just an MoU and not a binding agreement," said the person, who asked not to be identified. "COVID is almost over now, too."

A boy receives a dose of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine at a health center in Phnom Penh on Nov 1, 2021, as Cambodia begins vaccinating children from aged five and older. (TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP)

Cambodia

Cambodia started providing the fifth dose of COVID-19 vaccines to priority groups across the country on Thursday, health ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said.

The priority groups include leaders of the government, the senate and the parliament, health workers, government officials, civil servants, armed forces, the elderly, staff of embassies, national and international organizations, journalists, and celebrities.

"Vaccine is the most powerful tool to protect your lives from the COVID-19," she told reporters while visiting an inoculation site in Phnom Penh.

"Booster doses are essential to strengthen your immunity against COVID-19, so please come for your booster shots when your turns come," she added.

The spokeswoman said the interval between the fourth and the fifth doses is at least three months.

The Southeast Asian country has become a state of COVID-zero since Tuesday after the last patient recovered. Vandine attributed the country's success in controlling the pandemic to the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

The kingdom has so far administered one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to over 15 million people, or 94 percent of its 16 million population, the health ministry said, adding that of them, 14.3 million, or 89.4 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots.

Also, some 9.28 million, or 58 percent, have got a third dose, and 2.6 million, or 16 percent, have had a fourth dose.

Propelled by vaccinations, Cambodia has resumed all socioeconomic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine since November last year.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Thursday reported 50,860 new people showing fever symptoms amid the isolated nation's first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, state media KCNA said.

Arriving passengers leave a terminal at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Dec 1, 2021. (PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP)

India

The regulator of air traffic in India on Wednesday issued fresh guidelines making it mandatory for all air passengers to wear face masks throughout a flight.

The passengers aboard found flouting the guidelines by not wearing face masks would be treated as "unruly," and could be deboarded before take-off.

Masks are also compulsory at airports, said the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The new guidelines assume significance in the wake of an increase in the number of active cases of COVID-19 in India. 

India reported 7,240 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, its highest number of daily cases since March 2.

India's financial capital Mumbai, which has seen a rapid rise in cases, reported 1,765 new infections late on Wednesday, an increase of more than 500 cases from its Tuesday caseload.

The country reported eight deaths from COVID-19, the ministry said, taking the official death toll to 524,723 on Thursday.

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

Israel decided on Wednesday to beef up protection measures for the elders while avoiding reimposing restrictions on the general public amid a new wave of COVID-19 infections.

The announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office came after a consultation meeting with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and senior health officials after an increasing number of new COVID-19 infections were registered since May.

"At this stage, it was decided to strengthen the protection system for the elderly population and nursing homes," the statement read.

"Monitoring and testing of samples from sewer systems (to monitor the virus) will continue, as will the activities of the information collection system," it added.

The Israeli Health Ministry reported 4,757 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the country's highest daily figure since April 13.

Lebanon

Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad on Wednesday urged residents to adopt precautionary COVID-19 measures as the World Health Organization has warned against new waves of the pandemic.

Abiad said that Lebanon's residents must take precautionary measures as the vaccination rate stands at 45 percent and the country is about to receive foreign tourists and expats from countries that have been witnessing a re-surge in cases, according to a statement by the Lebanese Health Ministry.

"Precautionary measures in Lebanon have become nearly non-existent which must not be the case," he noted.

The minister said people must adopt social distancing measures, hand washing, and wearing a mask, especially in public institutions, gatherings, restaurants, and enclosed places.

He also called on citizens to receive the COVID-19 vaccine which has proved to be efficient in curbing deaths from the virus.

Lebanon on Tuesday registered 111 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 1,100,007.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 1,518 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,518,965, according to the health ministry.

There is one new imported case, with 1,517 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Six more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 35,705.

There are 21,589 active cases, with 26 being held in intensive care and 14 of those in need of assisted breathing.

New Zealand

New Zealand recorded 7,927 new community cases of COVID-19 and 27 more deaths from the pandemic, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

Among the new community infections, 2,239 were reported in the largest city Auckland, the ministry said, and 96 cases were detected at the New Zealand border.

Currently, 393 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 12 in intensive care units or high dependency units.

New Zealand has reported 1,215,822 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the country.

A woman receives a shot of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug 29, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Myanmar

Myanmar confirmed eight new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 613,405, according to the Ministry of Health on Wednesday.

The ministry said health authorities tested 5,489 people for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, and the daily positivity rate was 0.15 percent.

It added that the death toll from COVID-19 remained unchanged at 19,434 with no new deaths from the pandemic confirmed in the past 24 hours.

Over 62.25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, and more than 2.2 million people had received booster shots as of Tuesday.

According to official data, more than 27.02 million people in Myanmar had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Tuesday.

Singapore

Singapore reported 3,602 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 1,329,225.

Of the new cases, 370 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 3,232 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 349 were local transmissions and 21 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, 3,044 were local transmissions and 188 were imported cases.

No new deaths were reported from COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian country on Wednesday, leaving the death toll unchanged at 1,394, according to the ministry.

Passengers wait for transportation outside the arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on March 15, 2022, as Vietnam announced the return of a visa exemption policy for 13 countries in an effort to kickstart its tourism sector. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 913 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, down by 47 from Tuesday, according to its ministry of health.

All the new infections were domestically transmitted in 43 provinces and cities.

The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the pandemic hotspot with 187 new cases recorded on Wednesday, followed by the northern Yen Bai province with 67 and the northern Bac Ninh province with 57.

The infections brought the total tally to 10,727,918 with 43,081 deaths. 

Nearly 222.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including approximately 200 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.