People wearing face masks are seen outside a building in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Nov 11, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

SINGAPORE / BANGKOK / SEOUL / PHNOM PENH / JAKARTA / YEREVAN / KABUL / COLOMBO / KUALA LUMPUR / HANOI / TEHRAN / DHAKA / YANGON - Saudi Arabia has asked citizens and residents to sign up for its COVID-19 vaccination program, a week after approving Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s vaccine.

The program will commence in three phases, with the first targeting people over 65 and those with chronic diseases and low immunity. The first phase will also include people most exposed to the disease, such as health workers. The second and third stages will target those over 50 before the vaccine is made available to the wider public, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said.

Saudi Arabia reported on Monday 125 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 360,013.

The total number of recoveries rose to 350,792 as another 243 patients have recovered, while the death toll reached 6,059 after 11 more fatalities were registered.

A face mask-clad pedestrian walks in Wellington's central business district in on Aug 12, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

New Zealand

New Zealand COVID-19 response Minister Chris Hipkins on Tuesday outlined extensive All of Government planning in the event of a community case of COVID-19 during the holiday period.

"Since March, New Zealand has strengthened and evolved its ability to respond to COVID-19," Hipkins said in a statement.

"Improved testing and contact tracing capacity mean that since the Auckland August cluster, we've had four outbreaks which we have successfully managed without having to change alert levels," Hipkins said.

"At the same time, we know the virus is continuing to rage offshore and despite our best efforts, there's always the possibility of further community cases here," he said.

The summer holiday period poses challenges, he said, adding that a large number of people will be travelling for holidays or seasonal work, and there are more social gatherings and large events such as festivals. There will also be health system workers taking well-deserved leave.

The summer planning approach to manage any community cases over the holidays supports New Zealand's elimination strategy for COVID-19, he said.

Vietnam

Vietnam reported three new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the tally to 1,405 with 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the new cases involve Vietnamese citizens who recently entered the country from abroad and were put under quarantine upon arrival, said the ministry.

The ministry also reported that six more patients have recovered, bringing the number of recoveries to 1,252.

Iran

Iran reported on Tuesday 7,704 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections to 1,123,474.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing that 223 additional were registered during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 52,670.

A total of 5,704 other patients were currently in critical condition, according to the spokeswoman .

Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported 1,877 new COVID-19 cases and 40 more deaths on Tuesday, taking the tally to 494,209 and the death toll to 7,129, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The total number of recoveriess rose by 2,884 to 426,729, the DGHS said.

Myanmar

Myanmar's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Tuesday the extension of COVID-19 restrictive measures until Dec 31 to curb the spread of the virus.

The extension will be applied to the temporary entry restrictions for all travellers from foreign countries, temporary suspension of all types of visas including social visit visas and visa exemption services, the ministry said.

"The resumption of international commercial flights will begin on January 1, 2021 only after the preparation for the prevention of the disease is completed," Ne Win, director of the Air Transport Division under the Department of Civil Aviation told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Myanmar reported 1,155 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the tally in the country to 110,667, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.

The death toll rose by 27 to 2,319, according to the release.

Malaysia

Malaysia has reported 1,772 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday, bringing the tally to 86,618.

Of the new cases, 12 were imported while the rest were locally transmitted, said the ministry's Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Three more deaths have also been reported, bringing the death toll to 422.

Of the remaining 14,515 active cases, 118 were in intensive care, including 56 in need of assisted breathing.  

Indonesia

Indonesia's COVID-19 tally rose by 6,120 within a day to 629,429, and the death toll climbed by 155 to 19,111, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Of the new cases, West Java recorded 1,256 new cases, Jakarta 1,117, Central Java 764, East Java 735 and East Kalimantan 393. 

According to the ministry, 5,699 more patients have been discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 516,656.

A total of 363 medical workers in the country have died of COVID-19, according to the Indonesian Medical Association.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan's COVID-19 death toll reached 2,001 after 26 more deaths were registered within the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Tuesday.

Another 256 new cases were also reported, bringing the tally to 49,740, of which 8,621 cases were active, the ministry said in a statement.

Ninety more patients have been discharged from hospitals since early Monday, according to the ministry.

Sri Lanka

The number of COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka reached 33,478 on Tuesday after 650 new cases were posted, the health ministry said.

A total of 24,309 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of active cases stood at 9,015.

According to the health ministry, the country has recorded 154 deaths.

Armenia

Armenia on Tuesday reported 438 new COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 149,210, according to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

Data from the NCDC showed that 1,486 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries to 127,452.

The death toll rose by 26 to 2,529.

Cambodia

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Tuesday that the country's first community outbreak of COVID-19 has been brought under control, but it was still too early to declare that it is over.

The first community outbreak was detected on Nov 28 after six people in a family tested positive, while the origin of their infection had not been identified.

Hun Sen said so far, nearly 19,000 people linked to the outbreak had been tested, and 41 of them had tested positive.

Cambodia on Tuesday confirmed three new cases of COVID-19, including a one-year-old local boy and two people who had traveled from overseas, the Ministry of Health said in a statement

"The possibility to announce the end of the Nov. 28 event will not be made before Jan 11, 2021 (the date for high school graduation exam), but at least on Jan 20, 2021," he said in a speech live broadcast on the National Television of Cambodia (TVK).

Cambodia on Tuesday confirmed three new cases of COVID-19, including a one-year-old local boy and two people who had traveled from overseas, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

The baby is the son of a 30-year-old woman who tested positive on Nov 29 after having direct contact with an infected person linked to the first-ever community transmission on Nov 28, according to the statement.

The other two new cases involved a Cambodian-American woman arriving in the country from the US via a connecting flight in South Korea, and a Japanese woman arriving in the country from Japan via a connecting flight in South Korea, according to the statement.

So far, Cambodia has recorded a total of 362 confirmed cases with zero deaths and 312 recoveries.

Singapore

Singapore will open a new segregated travel lane for a limited number of business, official and high economic value travellers from all countries, the government said on Tuesday, as part of efforts to revive its key travel and hospitality sectors.

Singapore has spent billions of dollars in a bid to shield its economy from its worst-ever downturn and is trying to reopen international travel as it prepares to host the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering of political and business leaders next year.

The first travellers will be able to arrive from the second half of January through the new lane, which will be open to those who are coming for short-term stays of up to 14 days, the ministry of trade and industry said in a statement.

It will complement other arrangements that Singapore has for business travel including with China, Germany and Indonesia.

Travellers under the latest arrangement will have to stick to strict health and testing protocols, and will need to stay within a “bubble” at segregated facilities.

For example, while travellers will be allowed to meet with local visitors, there will be floor-to-ceiling dividers separating them.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported five new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 58,325.

All of the new cases are imported cases.

South Korea

South Korea’s prime minister pleaded with residents on Tuesday to abide by social distancing rules to avoid even greater restrictions in the face of the country’s largest wave of coronavirus infections.

Daily infection rates are hovering at record levels with another 880 new cases reported as of midnight Monday, up from 718 a day earlier, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Schools in the Seoul metropolitan area closed for a month from Tuesday as the government moves closer to imposing the toughest Level 3 restrictions, which would essentially mean a lockdown of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Companies could allow only essential workers in offices and gatherings of more than 10 people would be banned under such a lockdown.

The government is reluctant to impose Level 3 restrictions because of the “irrevocable pain” it would cause, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in televised remarks at a government meeting.

Meanwhile, Chung said that South Korea will import vaccines in the first quarter and secure more beyond the current plan to buy enough vaccines for 44 million people.

Separately, health authorities said that doctors can administer South Korean pharmaceutical maker Celltrion Inc’s candidate COVID-19 antibody treatment to patients with life-threatening conditions.

The treatment is expected to be administered to the first patients “soon”, KDCA official Kwon Jun-wook said.

Celltrion is conducting second- and third-phase clinical trials for CT-P59, and plans to seek emergency use approval for the treatment before year-end, a company spokesman said.

ALSO READ: S. Korea warns of toughest curbs after 2 days of record cases

Turkey

Turkey's COVID-19 cases increased to 1,866,345 on Monday with an addition of 29,617 new ones, including 5,064 symptomatic patients. Meanwhile, Morocco's tally of infections surpassed 400,000.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Turkey rose to 16,646 after 229 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, while the total recoveries increased to 1,631,944 with 28,164 more recovered cases.

Turkey will impose a four-day curfew, which is scheduled to start at 9 pm on Dec 31 and end at 5 am on Jan. 4, as part of anti-coronavirus measures, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a press conference held after the cabinet meeting on Monday.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Monday 1,338 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 575,972.

The ministry also reported 24 new deaths and 2,028 more recovered cases, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,603 and the total recoveries to 509,474.

A total of 3,933,815 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February, with 35,335 done during the day, according to the statement.

The ministry spokesman Sayf al-Badr said in a press release that there are indications of the epidemiological situation in Iraq showing the recovery rate from COVID-19 is about 90 percent, and the rate of death is also decreasing.

Israel

In Israel, the total number of cases from the coronavirus reached 359,070 with 2,820 new cases.

The death toll of the virus increased to 3,004 in the country, with 14 newly reported deaths since Sunday evening.

The total recoveries rose to 338,321, with 2,501 new ones, while the active cases stand at 17,745.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered self-quarantine after having come into contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19.

"Following an epidemiological inquiry, the prime minister will go into isolation until Friday after meeting with a verified coronavirus patient," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 1,092 new cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 186,041.

The tally of recoveries in the UAE rose to 164,349 after 670 more patients have recovered from the virus and the death toll reached 618 with one more fatality.

Thailand

Thailand's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Monday recorded 28 new COVID-19 cases, including a frontline healthcare worker who contracted the virus while on duty at an alternative state quarantine facility.

The total number of confirmed cases is 4,237.

The CCSA said that the 28 infected included six Thai returnees from Myanmar's Tachilek Township.

The total number of healthcare workers who got infected has risen to 7, said CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin.

Taweesin said a few months back when COVID-19 was at its peak and personal protective equipment (PPE) was in shortage, healthcare workers could easily be infected with COVID-19.

"However, the PPE gear is not inadequate, which means something wrong must have happened which then leads to healthcare workers getting infected," said Taweesin.

The CCSA spokesman said that the Ministry of Public Health will investigate the cause of the infection amongst healthcare workers and possibly revamp the quarantine process.

A total of 17 patients have recovered, bringing the total to 3,940, while 237 others are still being treated in hospitals. 

READ MORE: Japan to halt travel incentives nationwide as virus spreads

Kuwait 

Kuwait reported 231 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking its national count to 146,449, according to the country's Health Ministry.

One more death from the virus was registered, raising the death toll to 912, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, a total of 142,357 patients have recovered from the disease across Kuwait. 

India 

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan is ready in India and all paraphernalia, deep freezers and refrigerators have reached different states across the country, an official at the federal health ministry said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, aV.K. Paul , member of the central government-run thinktank NITI Aayog, said that the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had granted clearance for clinical trials for one more candidate vaccine from India this week.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has decided not to convene the winter session of parliament this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Tuesday.

The decision was conveyed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi in a letter to opposition Congress party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Joshi said he had held discussions with leaders of all parties and the consensus was not to call a session due to pandemic.

However, Congress party says it has not been consulted.

"Winter months are very crucial for managing the pandemic because of recent spurt in cases during this period, particularly in Delhi. At present, we are in the middle of December and a COVID-19 vaccine is expected very soon. In this regard, I have informally contacted floor leaders of various political parties and they have expressed concerns about the ongoing pandemic and opined of doing away with the winter session," Joshi said.

Joshi said the government is "willing to have the next session of parliament at the earliest".

"It would be appropriate to have the Budget Session 2021, in January 2021 keeping in mind the unprecedented circumstances created by COVID-19 pandemic," Joshi in a letter to Chowdhury said.

India reported 22,065 new coronavirus infections, taking its total to 9.9 million, data from the health ministry showed on Tuesday, making it the lowest daily rise since July 4, according to a Reuters tally.

India has recorded the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, after the United States, but daily infections have declined since hitting a peak in September.

Deaths rose by 354, the ministry said, taking the total to 143,709.

Pakistan 

Pakistan registered 2,459 new COVID-19 cases and 73 relevant deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported on Tuesday.

The country's COVID-19 tally has now reached 443,246, while the death toll mounted to 8,905, said the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in the latest update.

A total of 2,495 cases remain in critical condition and 386,333 patients have recovered, said the ministry. 

Australia 

Australia reported eight new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national total to 28,039, according to the Department of Health's data updated on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, with no new deaths reported, the country's death toll remains at 908, according to the department's data. An estimated 25,482 patients have recovered, shows the update.

On Monday, the Australian state of New South Wales lifted an order requiring companies to allow staff to work from home as the state continues to record no new locally acquired cases. 

The Philippines

The Philippines will test a return to in-person classes next month in areas with low Covid-19 risk, even as it warned of a possible post-holiday surge in infections.

President Rodrigo Duterte and his cabinet approved the Department of Education’s recommendation to hold a dry run of face-to-face classes in some schools through January, spokesman Harry Roque said Monday night. Health measures will be observed, and students won’t be required to go to schools unless permitted by their parents.

Japan

Japan’s government will set aside an additional 1 trillion yen (US$9.6 billion) to extend the “Go To” subsidized travel campaign in its third extra budget and have the program run through June, broadcaster NTV reported, without attribution. The government had already budgeted 1.4 trillion yen for the domestic travel campaign, which was scheduled to run through end-Jan., in its first extra budget.