A deserted shopping mall in Sydney during the Boxing Day sales on Dec 26, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBEG)

TOKYO / DUBAI / SEOUL / JERUSALEM / SYDNEY -  The cluster of COVID-19 infections that’s thrust Sydney’s Northern Beaches into lockdown has increased to 122 cases, health officials said Sunday.

Seven new local cases were reported overnight, with six linked to the cluster, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

The outbreak is a blow to Australia, which had largely suppressed community transmission through rigorous testing and contact tracing, and by shuttering the international border -- with all returning overseas travelers made to isolate for 14 days in quarantine hotels. The source of the cluster is still being investigated.

Some 250,000 people in the Northern Beaches have been told to remain at home except for essential medical care and provisions and not to allow visitors until at least Dec 30. 

Sydney’s 5 million residents have been barred from traveling to other states and territories across Australia due to the cluster, disrupting travel plans during the peak summer holiday season.

Cambodia 

Cambodia on Sunday confirmed one new imported case of COVID-19, bringing the total number in the country to 364, Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine said in a statement.

The latest case was detected on a 43-year-old Indonesian man, who arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia on Friday from Singapore via a direct flight, she said.

"The result of his samples' test showed (on Saturday) that he was positive for the COVID-19, and he is currently undergoing treatment at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in Phnom Penh."

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,187,850 on Sunday as 18,732 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.

This is the first time in six months when the number of new cases fell below the 20,000-mark.

According to the data, the death toll mounted to 147,622 as 279 COVID-19 patients died since Saturday morning.

There are still 278,690 active cases in the country, while 9,761,538 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment. This is also the first time in several months when the total active caseload fell below 280,000.

Indonesia

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 6,528 within one day to 713,365, with the death toll adding by 243 to 21,237, the health ministry said on Sunday.

According to the ministry, 6,983 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 583,676.

Iran

Iran is extending a night-time traffic curfew to 330 lower-risk cities and towns in an effort to sustain a recent decline in the number of new coronavirus infections and deaths, state television reported on Saturday.

Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the national coronavirus task force, said on state TV that a curfew running from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. -- already in place in 108 “orange,” or medium-risk, cities -- will be extended to lower-risk “yellow” areas on Sunday.

The curfew, under which the use of private cars is banned to reduce the level of contacts between people, resulted in nearly 100,000 fines on one night in the past week.

The Health Ministry said 134 people had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the lowest since Sept. 13, taking total deaths to 54,574 in the Middle East’s worst-affected country. There were 5,760 new cases, the lowest since Oct. 22, bringing the total to 1,194,964.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 836 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 590,779.

The ministry also reported 12 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,767, and the total recoveries rose to 530,262.

Earlier, the Iraqi authorities imposed new restrictive measures to protect people from a new strain of coronavirus that was recently found in many countries.

The authorities also banned the entry of travellers from these countries, except for Iraqi citizens who must be quarantined for 14 days until a PCR test proves they are not infected with the virus.

READ MORE: Malaysia's coronavirus tally surpasses 100,000

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 3,624 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 398,015.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 3,203 with 17 new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 527 to 561, out of 977 hospitalized patients.

The total recoveries rose to 359,816 after 1,949 new recovered cases were added, while active cases stand at 34,996.

On Sunday, a third full nationwide lockdown will take effect in Israel, starting at 5 p.m. local time.

The lockdown, aimed to curb the recent jump in morbidity, will include movement restrictions, business closures, reduced activity of workplaces, public transportation and education system, and gathering limitations.

Japan

Japan on Saturday said it would temporarily ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country as it tightens its borders following the detection of a new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.

The ban will take effect from Dec. 28 and will run through January, the government said in an emailed statement.

Japanese citizens and foreign residents will be allowed to enter but must show proof of a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before departing for Japan and must quarantine for two weeks after arrival, the statement said.

Japan on Friday reported its first cases of a fast-spreading variant in passengers arriving from Britain. The new variant has also been detected in a man who visited the UK and a family member - the first cases of infected people found outside airport checks - Nippon TV reported on Saturday.

The new strain adds to worries about a surge in cases as Tokyo reported another record rise on Saturday.

Infections of the virus that causes COVID-19 hit a record 949 in the capital just as Japan heads into New Year holidays that normally see people stream from the capital into the provinces.

Jordan

Jordan's ministry of health said 1,050 new cases were discovered, taking the tally to 286,356. The death toll increased to 3,729 with 18 new deaths. The total recoveries hit 258,651.

People look at a holiday season display and listen to music on Christmas Day in Tokyo on Dec. 25, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

Kuwait

Kuwait's COVID-19 cases increased by 172 to 149,449, while the death toll rose by three to 929.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 250 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 145,380.

ALSO READ: Tokyo virus cases jump to record 949 with city on highest alert

Mongolia 

Mongolia reported 39 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours after 14,646 tests had been conducted across the country, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Sunday.

Thirty-eight of the new cases were locally transmitted or reported in the capital city of Ulan Bator, Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the NCCD's Surveillance Department, said at a press conference.

The other one is a Mongolian national who has recently returned home from Europe on a chartered flight, said Ambaselmaa.

The country now has 1,121 confirmed cases, including 678 locally transmitted ones, according to the center.

A total of 711 patients have recovered so far with no deaths reported. 

Nepal

The risk of spread of COVID-19 has increased along with the protests being organized amid political turmoil in Nepal following the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament was dissolved last week, health experts here said.

Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the lower house of parliament on December 20 and announced the date of new parliamentary elections for April 30 and May 10 as per the recommendation of the cabinet amid the political infighting within the ruling Nepal Communist Party.

There have been protests in various parts of the country, particularly in capital Kathmandu, which has remained as the epicenter of coronavirus.

Oman

Oman will begin on Sunday the vaccination campaign with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

"The campaign targets, in the first stage, the most vulnerable groups to the pandemic, including frontline workers, people with chronic diseases and the elderly," said a health ministry statement.

The Omani health ministry earlier said 128,290 COVID-19 infections have been reported so far while the fatalities hit 1,491.

Palestine

A senior Palestinian health official announced that Palestine would receive the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines within two weeks.

Kamal al-Shakhra, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman, told a news briefing in Ramallah that the ministry has contacted with the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure the vaccines for Palestine.

The ministry also contacted several international companies which produce the vaccines, and asked for speedy delivery, he said.

Qatar

The Qatari health ministry announced 169 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 142,903.

It said 145 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 140,687, while the fatalities remained 244 for the second day running.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 163 new cases, taking the tally to 362,066, and eight new deaths, bringing the death toll to 6,176. The total recoveries rose to 353,004.

Singapore

An expert committee convened by Singapore’s health ministry has recommended all residents medically eligible for COVID-19 vaccination to take shots as they become available, although it said vaccination should remain a voluntary option.

The recommendation comes as Singapore’s success in controlling the virus makes some question whether they should take the jabs. The city-state has been reporting almost zero new local cases daily over the last few weeks.

The expert committee, convened in October, recommended achieving as high a level of population coverage for COVID-19 vaccination as possible to reduce the overall proportion of the population that is susceptible to the disease and the likelihood of uncontrolled chains of transmission, a statement released on Sunday said.

South Korea

South Korea reported 970 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 56,872.

The daily caseload fell below 1,000 in three days due to fewer tests over the weekend.

South Korea said on Sunday it will extend social distancing measures introduced to try to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic for another six days, to Jan. 3, but stop short of raising its coronavirus alert to the highest level, noting that growth in the number of infections has slowed, even as it continues to report near-record numbers of new cases each day.

South Korea posted its second-highest daily number of coronavirus cases on Saturday as outbreaks at a prison, nursing homes and churches continued to grow, prompting authorities to plead for a halt to all year-end gatherings.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said there were 1,132 new coronavirus cases on Friday, not far off the record 1,241 logged a day earlier.

Sri Lanka

The total COVID-19 patient count in Sri Lanka surpassed the 40,000-mark on Saturday after 500 people tested positive for the virus during the day, the Health Ministry statistics showed.

The total patient count reached 40,282, out of which 32,051 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 8,045.

A total of 186 deaths have been reported from the virus, according to the Health Ministry.

Sri Lanka is presently in the midst of a second wave of the virus after two new clusters were reported in October, one from a fish market in the capital and another from a garment factory on the outskirts of Colombo, leading to parts of the capital being placed under isolation.

Thailand

Thailand reported 121 new cases Sunday, most of which were connected to a recent outbreak in Samut Sakhon province, the country’s seafood hub.

Thai protesters demonstrated on Saturday to demand more action to help seafood sellers hit by a COVID-19 outbreak as the government urged people to eat more shellfish.

Twenty seven new COVID-19 infections were detected in one of Thailand's coastal provinces Saturday, hours after the authorities confirmed the country's daily caseload as 110.

All the 27 cases were detected in Rayong province, which accommodates major projects under the country's Eastern Economic Corridor scheme.

Most of the new cases were believed to be linked to an illegal gambling den, making it difficult to trace infection linkages, Rayong's governor Charnna Iamsaeng told local media.

The Philippines

The Philippines on Saturday decided to extend the travel ban for flights from Britain for another two weeks until mid-January to ensure that the new COVID-19 strain found in Britain will not enter the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte made the decision after meeting with the inter-agency COVID-19 task force to discuss the implications of the new strain to his country's efforts to contain the disease.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 469,886 as 883 new cases were reported on Sunday, the lowest daily increase in more than five months.

Sunday's daily tally is the lowest since July 14 when the country reported 634 cases.

The death toll climbed to 9,109 after 42 more patients died, while 7,635 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 438,678, the Department of Health said.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported 1,227 new cases, taking the tally to 200,892, and two new deaths, bringing the death toll to 655. The total recoveries reached 177,407.

Turkey

Turkey's health ministry reported 15,118 new cases on Saturday, bringing the tally in the country to 2,133,373. The death toll in Turkey rose to 19,624 with 253 new deaths and the total recoveries hit 1,994,034.

Vietnam

Vietnam reported a new case of COVID-19 infection on Saturday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,440 with 35 deaths from the disease so far, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

The new case is a 32-year-old Vietnamese man from southern Vietnam's Vinh Long province, who illegally crossed the border into the country from abroad on Thursday, said the ministry.