People wearing face masks walk along the Cheonggye stream in downtown Seoul on Nov 23, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

TEHRAN / PHNOM PENH / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / AMMAN / SEOUL / WELLINGTON / NEW DELHI -South Korea more than tripled the number of coronavirus vaccine containers aircraft can carry by easing limits on dry ice needed to keep them cold, the country’s deputy minister for aviation told Reuters on Tuesday.

South Korea said on Tuesday it signed deals to provide coronavirus vaccines for 44 million people next year, including from AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc, and Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen.

Airlines and governments round the globe are working on ways to establish cold chain delivery systems for vaccines, like Pfizer’s, which requires storage at below minus 70 Celsius, and Moderna’s, which needs to be kept at -20C.

A difficulty with vaccine transport is that airplanes can only carry a limited amount of dry ice - frozen carbon dioxide - as it turns into gas over time, displacing the breathable air in the cabin.

The transport ministry raised the limit of dry ice a plane can carry from 3,300 to up to 11,000 kilogrammes, which will allow a Boeing 747 cargo plane to carry 52 containers of vaccines, up from 15, Kim Sang-do, deputy minister for civil aviation, said on the sidelines of a forum.

To allow this, it will boost safety measures such as carbon dioxide emission inspection and installation of gas meters, the ministry said in a statement.

“Vaccine transport is difficult due to the expertise and the steady temperature necessary,” Kim said, adding that the unbroken cold chain of temperature management could include a cold cargo facility the size of two soccer fields being built near the main international airport in Incheon. It is expected to be completed in February next year and operated by Korean Air, according to the ministry.

United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week that it supported its first mass vaccine air shipment, adding it is working to provide guidance on dry ice safety rules.

South Korea reported 594 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

Japan

Japan announced a fresh US$708 billion economic stimulus package on Tuesday to speed up the recovery from the country’s deep coronavirus-driven slump, while targeting investment in new growth areas such as green and digital innovation.

The new package will include about 40 trillion yen (US$384.54 billion) in direct fiscal spending and initiatives targeted at reducing carbon emissions and boosting adoption of digital technology.

Policymakers globally have unleashed a wall of monetary and fiscal stimulus to prevent a deep and prolonged recession as the coronavirus closed international borders and sent millions out of work. In the United States, a US$908 billion coronavirus aid plan is currently under debate in Congress.

In Japan, the pandemic has forced the government to put its fiscal reform agenda on the backburner, despite holding the industrial world’s heaviest public debt burden, that is twice the size of its economy.

“We have compiled the new measures to maintain employment, sustain business and restore the economy and open a way to achieve new growth in green and digital areas, so as to protect people’s lives and livelihoods,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told a meeting with ruling party executives.

The package, approved by cabinet on Tuesday, would bring the combined value of coronavirus-related stimulus to about US$3 trillion - roughly two-third the size of Japan’s economy.

Suga said the fresh stimulus will boost Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) by around 3.6 percent.

Indonesia

Indonesia’s government plans to begin inoculating those on the front lines of the pandemic, including health workers and law enforcement, in January, Wiku Adisasmito, a spokesman for the task force, said in televised address.

Inoculations can begin pending quality and safety checks as well as the issuance of an emergency use authorization from the food and drug regulator known as BPOM.

The first batch of Covid-19 vaccine ordered from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. arrived in Indonesia late Sunday, marking a new phase in the country’s fight against Southeast Asia’s worst outbreak.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 5,292 within one day to 586,842, with the death toll adding by 133 to 18,000, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

According to the ministry, 4,295 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 483,497.

Cambodia

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that the kingdom will provide COVID-19 vaccines free-of-charge to its citizens when the vaccines are available.

In a post on his official Facebook page, Hun Sen said he had advised Health Minister Mam Bunheng to consult with development partners, particularly with the World Health Organization, to select a producing country where the kingdom should purchase the vaccines from.

Also, he had told Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth to prepare a budget to buy 1 million doses of the vaccines in the first phase to provide to people at a high risk of getting infections.

Hun Sen said 1 million doses can be injected into 500,000 persons because a person is required to inject twice.

Cambodia confirmed two more local COVID-19 cases in the capital, bringing the total number of infected people linked to the first-ever community transmission to 34, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

ALSO READ: Myanmar's COVID-19 infections surpass 100,000

India

India's COVID-19 tally reached 9,703,770 on Tuesday as 26,567 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the health ministry.

According to the data, the death toll mounted to 140,958 as 385 COVID-19 patients died since Monday morning.

According to the health ministry, India crossed a significant milestone on Monday as the active caseload fell below 400,000-mark after 140 days, and the daily fatalities fell below 400 after 157 days. 

A woman wearing a face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic walks by closed shops in the Iranian capital Tehran, on Nov 30, 2020. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran

The governor of Iran's central bank said on Monday the US "inhumane sanctions" have blocked Iran's purchase of vaccines needed to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic, official news agency IRNA reported.

"Because the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine has to be done through the official channels of the World Health Organization (WHO), all the paths to pay and transfer the required currency have so far been blocked by the inhumane embargoes of the US government and the need to obtain an Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) license," Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote on social media.

The International Monetary Fund did not "even dare" to raise Iran's request for a humanitarian loan on its board "under pressure and threats from the US and despite acknowledging Iran's right and the absence of any economic or legal obstacles," Hemmati said.

Iran's Health Ministry reported 11,023 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,062,397.

The pandemic has so far claimed 50,917 lives in Iran, up by 323 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education during her daily briefing.

Of the newly infected, 1,710 were hospitalized, said Lari.

A total of 754,224 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,780 remain in intensive care units, Lari added.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Monday 1,815 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 566,015.

The ministry also reported 28 new deaths and 2,158 more recovered cases in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,460 and the total recoveries to 495,725.

A street vendor selling Santa Claus shaped chocolate figurines calls for customers at a market in the Old City of Jerusalem on Dec 7, 2020. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)

Israel

Israel's coronavirus cabinet approved on Monday a nighttime curfew following the recent resurgence in COVID-19 infections.

The three-week-long curfew will begin on Wednesday, a day before the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, and will last until Jan 2, according to a government statement.

"During the curfew, commercial activity will be prohibited and restrictions on the movement between different areas will be imposed," the statement read.

In addition, the government said "steps will be taken to tighten the enforcement and impose increased fines" on people who violate the curfew.

It was also decided that passengers returning from abroad would be required to undergo a coronavirus test at the airport as a condition for entering quarantine at home. Those who refuse to take the test would be required to enter quarantine at hotels.

READ MORE: S. Korea clamps down as cases rise to nine-month high

Thailand 

Thailand is stepping up border surveillance by deploying drones and ultraviolet cameras after dozens of new COVID-19 cases were found linked to a town in neighboring Myanmar.

At least 16 people who illegally crossed the borders and avoided the mandatory 14-day quarantine have tested positive for coronavirus since late November with two local transmissions being traced back to the group that came from Myanmar, according to officials. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha ordered officials on Monday to erect barricades along the porous border to stop illegal crossings and curb infection risks.

Jordan 

Jordan signed agreements with several companies to purchase the COVID-19 vaccines, expecting to receive the vaccines during the first quarter of 2021, Jordanian Health Minister Nathir Obeidat said Monday.

Besides, Jordan's epidemiological situation is stable, but the public need to remain cautious and abide by health instructions, the minister said at a press conference.

Also on Monday, the first military field hospital in Zarqa for coronavirus patients was opened to improve the medical system to deal with the pandemic, according to the state-run Petra news agency.

On Monday, Jordan reported 3,980 infections and 60 COVID-19 deaths, increasing the total cases to 244,069 with 3,116 deaths, according to a joint statement issued by the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Health.

A total of 154 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals on Monday, increasing the number of cases receiving treatment in hospitals to 1,684, of which 403 patients were in ICUs, the statement said, adding that 228 recovered patients left hospitals.

The statement also said the total number of recoveries rose to 192,033.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported six new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation on Tuesday, taking the total tally to 1,729. There are no new community cases.

The UAE

Abu Dhabi has started a volunteer program for Phase 3 clinical trials of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V.

The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates is initially seeking 500 volunteers, according to the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office. Russian president President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of Sputnik V in August and a second inoculation was approved in October.

Developers of the vaccine have said that initial testing showed it was 91.4 percent effective in preventing infections, although final results haven’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have said their shot is 95 percent effective in preventing illness.

Australia 

Australia registered 15 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its total caseload to 27,987, according to the latest data released on its government website on Monday.

The death toll in the country stood at 908, active cases now reached 1,433, and total recoveries have hit 25,646, according to figures from the Department of Health.

Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told media on Thursday that the country would start mass vaccination against the coronavirus in March 2021. 

Mongolia

Mongolia's COVID-19 tally rose to 888 on Tuesday after one more case was registered in the past 24 hours, said the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).

The latest confirmed case was locally transmitted in the northern Mongolian province of Selenge, the NCCD said in a statement.

A total of 456 local cases have been reported nationwide so far, notably in the capital city of Ulan Bator and provinces of Selenge, Darkhan-Uul, Govisumber, Orkhon, Dornogovi and Arkhangai.

Uzbekistan 

Uzbekistan registered 153 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its national tally to 74,206, according to latest official data released on its government website Monday morning.

The death toll in the country stood at 611 with 71,482 recoveries, according to the figures released by the health ministry.

The Uzbek government will carry out a phase-3 trial of a China-developed vaccine for COVID-19 later this month.

The Uzbek Health Ministry has announced that 5,000 Uzbek volunteers aged between 18 and 59 will attend the third phase of the pilot process, which will continue for a year. 

Laos

Another two COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospital in Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday, according to Lao Ministry of Health.

Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepaserd Sayamoungkhoun, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday that 31th and 32th infected case in the country were permitted to return home after tested negative for the virus in the second round of testing.

The Philippines

The number of COVID-19 infections in the Philippines rose to 442,785 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,400 new cases on Tuesday.

The DOH said 139 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 408,790. The death toll climbed to 8,670 after 98 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

The DOH said it had tested over 5.66 million people in the Philippines so far. The Philippines has a population of about 110 million.

The Philippines has been reporting less than 2,000 daily cases since Nov. 10, except on Nov. 29, on which 2,076 new cases were reported.

Afghanistan 

A total of 230 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of patients infected with the disease to 48,363 in the country, a statement of the Public Health Ministry released here Tuesday said.

Six patients have died over the period, totaling the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 1,908 since the outbreak in February in Afghanistan, the statement added.

 According to the statement, 49 patients have recovered over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of recovered one to 38,033. 

Pakistan 

Pakistan registered 2,885 new COVID-19 cases and 89 deaths related to the disease in the last 24 hours, according to the latest official data released on its government website Monday morning.

The total caseload in the country has topped 423,179, with total death toll at 8,487, active cases at 44,218, and total recoveries at 370,474.

There are currently 2,486 critical cases, according to figures released by the health ministry.

Brunei

Brunei reported one new imported case of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the national tally to 152.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, the case is a 39-year-old man arriving at Brunei on Nov. 27 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The man reportedly showed no signs of infection and is currently being treated at the National Isolation Center.

The Ministry of Health has identified a total of six contacts and all contacts have undergone the COVID-19 swab tests and were confirmed negative. All contacts are undergoing quarantine.

With the detection of this latest case, there are two active cases being treated at the National Isolation Centre. A total of 11 imported cases have been confirmed since the last local infection case on May 6, 2020. At present, Brunei has recorded 216 days without COVID-19 local infection cases.

Meanwhile, 613 individuals are currently undergoing mandatory self-isolation at the monitoring centers provided by the government, who have arrived in the country after traveling abroad.

There have been three deaths resulted from COVID-19 in Brunei and a total of 147 patients have recovered.

Armenia 

Armenia on Tuesday reported 584 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total caseload to 142,928, according to the country's ministry of health.

In the last 24 hours, 28 patients died from the virus, raising the country's total death toll to 2,372. Active cases were at 21,409 and total recoveries have reached 119,147, the health ministry said.  

Vietnam 

Vietnam reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,377 with 35 deaths from the disease so far, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new cases, including a Turkish and nine Vietnamese citizens, recently entered the country from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry.

It also announced that 1,224 patients in the country have been given all-clear as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, nearly 20,300 people are being quarantined and monitored, the ministry said.  

Kazakhstan 

Kazakhstan on Tuesday reported 670 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total caseload to 137,653, the country's ministry of health reported.

In the last 24 hours, the country's total death toll stood at 2,034. Active cases were at 14,272, total recoveries have reached 121,347, and critical cases were at 221, the health ministry said.

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 1,012 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday, bringing the national total to 75,306.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that seven of the new cases are imported and 1,005 are local transmissions.

Four new deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 388.

Another 1,750 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 64,056, or 85.1 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 10,862 active cases, 126 are being held in intensive care and 62 of those are in need of assisted breathing.  

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported 2,202 new COVID-19 cases and 32 new deaths on Tuesday, making the tally at 481,945 and death toll at 6,906, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 17,084 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 401,194 including 2,571 new recoveries on Tuesday, said the DGHS.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.43 percent and the current recovery rate is 83.24 percent.

Bangladesh recorded the highest daily new cases of 4,019 on July 2 and the highest number of deaths of 64 on June 30. 

Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan on Tuesday registered 4,387 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national tally to 154,152, the country's operational headquarters for COVID-19 response reported.

The headquarters also said 38 more COVID-19 fatalities were reported in 24 hours, raising the nationwide count to 1,713.

Also, a total of 93,411 people have recovered from the coronavirus disease across Azerbaijan.  

Kyrgyzstan 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Kyrgyzstan surged to 75,690 on Tuesday with 295 more people testing positive for the coronavirus over the last 24 hours, the country's health ministry reported.

Among the newly confirmed cases, six are medical workers, bringing the total number of infected medical staff to 3,986.

Four new fatalities were confirmed, bringing the total death toll from COVID-19 in the country to 1,301.

Meanwhile, with 473 more recoveries across Kyrgyzstan, a total of 67,873 patients have recovered from the disease over the entire period.  

Myanmar 

Myanmar reported 1,308 more COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the tally in the country to 101,739, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.

A total of 19 more COVID-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 2,151 in total, the release said.

According to the ministry's figures, 80,726 patients have been discharged from the hospitals.

A total of 1,331,092 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far, the ministry's figures showed.

Sri Lanka

The number of positive COVID-19 patients in Sri Lanka surpassed the 28,000-mark on Tuesday after over 600 patients were detected during the previous day, statistics from the Health Ministry showed here.

Out of the total 28,580 patients detected since the first local patient tested positive in March, 20,804 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 7,634.

The number of deaths from the virus rose to 142 after two deaths were reported on Monday, official figures showed.