A student enters a classroom as some schools reopened after a six-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic in Chandagiri municipality on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Oct 6, 2020. (PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP)
TOKYO / JERUSALEM / RAMALLAH / ANKARA / KATHMANDU - With new record high daily spike on Thursday, coronavirus cases in Nepal have inched closer to 100,000, Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said.
The Nepali government on Thursday reported 4,364 new cases. It is the first time that the Himalayan country reported more than 4,000 cases in a single day.
"With record high new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the number of cases in the country has reached 98,617," Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the health ministry said at a regular press briefing.
The last record high daily infections were reported on Wednesday when the country registered 3,439 cases.
As many as 58 percent of the total COVID-19 cases were reported in Kathmandu Valley, where there are the thickest settlements of people. According to the health ministry, 2,540 cases were reported in the Valley.
More than 10,000 cases were reported in Kathmandu Valley within just a week, the ministry said.
Singapore
Singapore is expanding swab testing operations and capacity to support routine testing for migrant workers, who make up the vast majority of total coronavirus infections in the city-state that’s trying to reopen its economy.
The government will also add nine more in-dormitory facilities to conduct routine testing for foreign workers by the end of the month, from the current 24 facilities, the Ministry of Manpower and Health Promotion Board said Thursday in a joint press release. There are plans to increase the number of regional screening centers to as many as 30 by the end of the year, from the current 20 centers, with about two thirds of these sites conducting routine testing.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 1 new confirmed case of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing its total tally to 1,100 with 35 deaths, according to the health ministry.
The latest case is a 29-year-old Vietnamese man who recently entered the country from abroad and was quarantined upon arrival, according to the ministry.
Oman
The Omani Health Ministry on Thursday announced 664 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 104,129, the official Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.
Meanwhile, 402 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall number of recoveries to 91,731, while nine others reportedly died, raising the death toll to 1,009, according to a ministry statement quoted by ONA.
The ministry urged everyone to adhere to social distancing instructions issued by the Supreme Committee and the ministry of health, as well as staying at home and avoiding going out unless necessary.
Iraq
The world’s largest annual religious gathering is in full swing and is posing formidable health hazards for Iraqi authorities already struggling with a spike in COVID-19 infections.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims, many without face masks and seemingly oblivious to government health guidelines, cram closely together as they queue for security checks, while giant cooling fans blow air across the crowds.
Dozens of teenagers with tanks of disinfectant on their backs frantically spray the visitors but miss many because they are completely outnumbered.
In a normal year, up to 20 million mostly Shi’ite Muslims take part in the ‘Arbaeen’ pilgrimage to the holy city of Kerbala to commemorate Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was slain in battle in 680 by the Muslim Caliph of the day.
This year, with Iraq already recording up to 5,000 new COVID-19 infections daily and a total death toll of nearly 10,000, authorities have barred entry to most foreign pilgrims, including some three million Iranians.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 375 new COVID-19 infections, the health ministry said on Thursday, bringing the national total to 14,368.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press briefing that four of the new cases are imported and 371 are local transmissions, most from the eastern state of Sabah.
Five more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 146.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded 1,441 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 20 more deaths on Thursday, raising its total tally to 374,592 with 5,460 deaths, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The official data showed that 12,605 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.
Japan
Japan is planning to remove a ban on overseas travel to China and 11 other countries and regions next month, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.
The 11 other countries and regions include Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia, the Yomiuri said.
The Japanese government, which currently bans travel to 159 countries and regions, will recommend that travellers refrain from unnecessary and non-urgent visits to those 12 countries, the newspaper said.
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Palestine
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye announced on Wednesday that the government is to tighten the measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories.
"The rate of daily infections from coronavirus in the Palestinian territories is still high and worrying," Ishtaye told the weekly meeting of the Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet held in Ramallah.
He added that the PA carries on with tightening the measures "to restrict the spread of the virus amid the intensive return of the virus in several countries."
The Palestinian Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 510 new COVID-19 cases from COVID-19 in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.
In a press statement, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said that the ministry recorded six fatalities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Turkey
Turkey reported 1,581 new COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, raising the total tally in the country to 329,138.
In addition, 56 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 8,609, while 1,355 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 288,954, according to the Health Ministry.
The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients is 6.2 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 1,411, the ministry said.
Turkish health professionals conducted 116,608 tests in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests to 11,160,946.
The COVID-19 inpatient number in Turkey's most populous city Istanbul has dropped by 80 percent compared with the number at the peak of the pandemic in April, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya announced on Wednesday.
Jordan
The tally of COVID-19 cases in Jordan rose to 20,200 on Wednesday after 1,199 new infections were recorded.
The death toll from the virus climbed by nine to 131, the Jordanian Health Ministry said in a statement.
The majority of the new infections were registered in the capital Amman with 870 cases, the statement added.
The kingdom also reported 189 recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 5,575.
A total of 20,507 virus tests were conducted on Wednesday, bringing the overall coronavirus tests in the country to 1,351,112.
The ministry urged the people to abide by the safety measures, warning against holding gatherings of more than 20 people.
Iran
Iran's borders with Iraq have been closed following the resurgence of novel coronavirus, Iran Daily reported on Wednesday.
The Iranians will not be able to travel to Iraq for the Shiite ritual of Arbaeen this year, Iran's Police Chief Hossein Ashtari was quoted as saying.
Ashtari urged the pilgrims to avoid traveling to Iran-Iraq border areas.
On Sept 20, the Iraqi Health Ministry said that the entry of foreign travelers into the country was banned amid the appearance of novel coronavirus.
Iran on Thursday reported 4,392 new COVID-19 cases, the new highest single-day increase since the outbreak, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 488,236.
In addition, 230 deaths from coronavirus were registered in the past 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 27,888, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.
India
India's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi tested positive for COVID-19, he tweeted on Wednesday.
He said he was under home quarantine.
"I have tested positive for COVID-19. As I am asymptomatic, as per doctor's advice I am in home quarantine," he tweeted.
Joshi, an elected lawmaker from the southern state of Karnataka, played a crucial role in the conduct of the recent parliament session amid the pandemic in his capacity as the parliamentary affairs minister.
Lebanon
Lebanon registered on Wednesday the highest daily increase in the number of COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the virus by 1,459 to 48,377 while death toll went up by nine to 433, the Health Ministry reported.
The ministry has been active in the fight against the virus during the past days by imposing new lockdown measures in 111 villages while working excessively to expand departments capable of receiving COVID-19 patients in public hospitals all over the country.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh's cabinet has decided to spend 6 billion taka (US$70.8 million) to procure at its earliest vaccines for the COVID-19.
After the cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Wednesday, Spokesman Khandker Anwarul Islam told reporters that the cabinet gave its approval to a proposal to form a fund of 6 billion taka to buy COVID-19 vaccines.
Iraq
The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Wednesday 3,923 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 391,044.
The ministry also reported 73 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 9,604 in the country.
It also said that 3,413 more patients recovered in the day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 319,784.
Meanwhile, the Sunni Endowment, responsible for Sunni mosques across Iraq, announced that the weekly Friday prayers will be resumed in mosques starting from Oct. 9 in all the Iraqi provinces on condition that the worshippers abide by the protective measures.
Iraq has taken a series of measures to contain the pandemic since February when the first coronavirus case appeared in the country.
Singapore
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 57,840.
Of the new cases, six are imported cases, and there are no cases in the community.
On Wednesday, 12 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 57,624 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, the ministry said.
There are currently 39 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Furthermore, 150 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
Altogether 27 people have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
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Nepal
The COVID-19 situation in Nepal is worsening as the government reported Wednesday a record single day spike of 3,439 cases.
It is the first time that COVID-19 cases in Nepal surpassed 3,000 in a single day.
The last record high daily infections were reported on Oct. 2 when the country registered 2,722 cases.
With new infections reported in last 24 hours, the total COVID-19 cases in the country had reached 94,253, said Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.
It is also one of the deadliest days for the country with the government reporting 15 deaths from the virus in a single day, according to the health ministry.
People, wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19, walk past a closed retail mall along the Orchard Road shopping belt in Singapore on May 6, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)
Myanmar
Over 120,000 Myanmar migrants have returned home from neighboring Thailand through a friendship bridge between the two countries so far during the COVID-19 pandemic, a local official told Xinhua on Friday.
From March 23 to Oct. 7, the migrant workers have been using No. 2 Myanmar-Thailand friendship bridge and of the total returnees, 70 were tested positive for COVID-19, said U Tayzar Aung, administrator of Myawady District of Kayin state.
Myanmar reports 1,400 new COVID-19 cases and 39 fatalities on Wednesday, the nation’s highest one-day spike in infections, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.
Australia
Australia's most populous state has reported its most new coronavirus cases in about a month.
As of Thursday afternoon there had been 27,206 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the number of new cases in last 24 hours is 25, according to the latest figures from Australian Government Department of Health.
New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 12 new cases on Thursday, its most since early September.
Of those cases eight were locally acquired and four were recently returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
Victoria, the hardest-hit state by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, confirmed 11 more cases.
It marks the first time that New South Wales has reported more new cases than Victoria, which accounts for more than 70 percent of Australia's total cases, in recent months.
New Zealand
New Zealand reported three new imported cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, including two cases from managed isolation and one historic imported case.
There are no new cases in the community, according to the Ministry of Health.
One case reported arrived from Ireland via Dubai on Sept. 29. The person had been in managed isolation at the Sudima in Rotorua and tested positive before being transferred to Auckland's quarantine facility, said a ministry statement.
The second case arrived from Hong Kong on Saturday. The person had been staying in managed isolation at the Holiday Inn in Auckland and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility upon returning a positive test result from their routine test around the thrid day of their stay, the statement said.
The third case is a historic case that is regarded as an old infection and the person is no longer infectious. The person was retested as part of the follow-up to the Christchurch returnee cases and returned a weakly positive result.
New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is 1,508, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization.
One case is now considered to have recovered, so the country's total number of active cases is now 39 - all imported cases. There are no active community cases of COVID-19.
India
India’s total coronavirus cases rose by 78,524 in the last 24 hours to 6.84 million on Thursday morning, data from the health ministry showed.
Deaths from COVID-19 infections rose by 971 to 105,526, the ministry said.
India’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, only the third country in the world to reach that bleak milestone, after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating.
Last week, India further eased restrictions and permitted states to open schools and movie theatres.
The Philippines
The Philippines' health ministry on Thursday reported 2,363 new coronavirus cases and 144 more deaths, the largest daily increase in casualties in more than three weeks.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed infections have reached 331,869, while deaths have increased to 6,069.
Israel
The Israeli cabinet extended on Thursday regulations that limit anti-government protests, citing a need to limit gatherings amid a COVID-19 resurgence.
In an overnight conference call, the ministers approved a one-week extension of the emergency regulations until Oct 13.
The regulations restrict rallies to a 1,000-meter radius of the participants' homes and in groups of no more than 20 people.
The number of coronavirus cases in Israel has reached 281,481, with 4,455 new cases, the state's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
The number of death cases reached 1,824, with 27 new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition dropped from 880 to 866, out of 1,582 patients currently hospitalized.
The number of recoveries reached 216,613, with 5,216 new ones, while active cases currently stand at 63,043.
Indonesia
Indonesia’s new coronavirus cases increased by another record for the first time in two weeks.
The country reported 4,850 confirmed cases in the 24 hours through midday on Oct. 8, the highest single-day increase since the start of the outbreak and exceeding the previous record set on Sept. 25. The health ministry said 108 people died from the disease known as Covid-19, bringing the total to 11,580.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has called for more targeted lockdown measures to curb the spread of infections without damaging the economy, which is set for its first annual contraction since the Asian financial crisis.
People wearing face masks take pictures in front of the new section of Tokyo Disneyland on Sept 25, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)
Afghanistan
Afghanistan Public Health Ministry has reported 68 new COVID-19 positive cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 39,616 since the outbreak of the disease in February in the country, said a statement of the ministry released here Thursday.
One patient has died due to the disease over the period, totaling the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 1,470 since February.
Afghanistan on Thursday received more anti-epidemic supplies from China to aid its fight against COVID-19.
The much-needed supplies included 20,000 protective suits, nearly 40,000 test kits, two fully automated nucleic acid extractors, two PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machines, and masks and gloves.
They were in the sixth batch of Chinese aid to the war-torn Asian country which was hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 in late February.
The Maldives
The Maldives has received US$520 million in grants and concessional loans from countries and international institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported on Thursday.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer was quoted by the state-owned Public Service Media as saying that the government has been working with bilateral partners and international institutions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on local economy.
Speaking in the parliament, Ameer said that the government budget for 2021 will feature significant investment in the fisheries and agriculture sectors in order to reduce the island country's dependence on tourism, while investment on social services such as healthcare will also be emphasized.
The minister said that projections for income received through grants have been revised from US$1.94 billion down to US$908 million. Meanwhile, debt is projected to rise to US$778 million.
Ameer said that basic public services will sustain despite a low revenue, and that the country's development projects will continue despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UAE
A United Arab Emirates company is nearing the end of Phase III clinical trials of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine and hopes to manufacture it next year, a representative said.
The trial, which began in mid-July, is a partnership between Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company Group 42 (G42).
The vaccine uses an inactivated virus; a well-known technology which has been used against diseases such as influenza and measles. Two doses are given.
It has been administered to more than 31,000 people in the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan, G42 Healthcare CEO Ashish Koshy said.
Results analysis and publication will happen in around two months, Koshy said.
He said G42 has distribution and manufacturing agreements with Sinopharm and hopes to provide the UAE and other regional states with the vaccine, especially those that participated in the trial.
The target is to produce between 75 and 100 million doses next year in the UAE, he said.
“Early results are showing it is safe, there is a general rise in antibodies for all the volunteers,” Koshy said. “In terms of being effective it is on the journey, but only time will tell in terms of the whole picture.”
