A man wearing a face mask visits the Shibuya Sky observation deck in Tokyo on Feb 2, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)

SINGAPORE / CANBERRA / NEW DELHI / JAKARTA / BAGHDAD / JERUSALEM / BEIRUT / MALE / ULAN BATOR / YANGON / RAMALLAH / RIYADH / SEOUL / ANKARA - Japan on Wednesday confirmed 2,631 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nation's overall infection tally to 396,716. 

The total number of virus-related death rose to 6,085 as 120 more patients have died.

The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 676 new COVID-19 cases in the capital on Wednesday, bringing the city's total tally to 101,466 infections.

The latest figure marks the sixth successive day that the daily tally has remained below the 1,000-mark and compares to 556 new infections confirmed on Tuesday, rising from 393 new cases reported on Monday.

Japan’s COVID-19 tracking application for some smartphone users has had a malfunction since September and has failed to pass on some notifications of suspected contact with people infected with the virus, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry did not say if the problem, which came with an update of the app, had contributed to the spread of the virus but it said it was working to fix it by the middle of this month.

The Japanese government is now hoping that new laws, which will come into effect next week, making it possible to impose fines on people and businesses refusing to follow the country's anti-virus measures, may help its plight in fighting the virus' spread.

The laws, enacted in Japan's upper house of parliament on Wednesday, now make it possible to slap fines of 500,000 yen (US$4,70) on COVID-19 carriers who refuse hospitalization, and penalties of up to 300,000 yen on those who do not comply with health officials' surveys.

On Tuesday, Japan said the state of emergency in place for Tokyo and other regions hard hit by the novel coronavirus will be extended by one month until March 7.

People wait in line to be tested for COVID-19 at Royal Perth Hospital in Perth on Jan 31, 2021. (TREVOR COLLENS / AFP)

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan confirmed 57 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of patients infected with the disease to 55,231 in the country, Public Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

According to the statement, one patient died over the period, bringing the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 2,407 since the outbreak of the pandemic in February in Afghanistan.

Australia

Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales said on Wednesday it will ease pandemic restrictions on restaurants and cafes this week after recording 17 days with no local COVID-19 cases.

The move comes as the city of Perth, on the country’s west coast, recorded a third day without a fresh coronavirus case, having started a five-day lockdown on Monday after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive.

About 2 million Australians began their first full day of a strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday following the discovery of one case in the community in Perth, capital of Western Australia state, but no new cases have since been found.

Authorities ordered a five-day lockdown of Perth after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from overseas was found to have contracted the virus.

The state government said 66 people have been deemed close contacts of the unidentified guard and none of those already tested were infected.

“In total 13 close contacts have now tested negative and of those 11 high-risk contacts have been moved into hotel quarantine as an extra precaution,” Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth.

ALSO READ: Japan extends virus emergency until March 7

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported 438 new COVID-19 cases and 13 new deaths on Wednesday, making the tally at 536,545 and death toll at 8,162, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 14,985 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 481,306 including 578 new recoveries on Wednesday, said the DGHS.

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,777,284 on Wednesday as 11,039 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, the latest data from the federal health ministry showed.

According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 154,596 as 110 COVID-19 patients died since Tuesday morning.

There are still 160,057 active cases in the country, while 104,62,631 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.

India's nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off on Jan. 16, and more than 4.1 million people, mainly health workers, have been vaccinated across the country.

Indonesia

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 11,984 within one day to 1,111,671, with the death toll adding by 189 to 30,770, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, 9,135 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 905,665.

Five more overseas Indonesians have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total recoveries in this group to 2,209, according to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Three new recoveries were reported in South Korea, and two others in Bahrain.

Furthermore, an Indonesian in Kuwait has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 overseas to 3,063. The death toll in this group remains at 171.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health on Tuesday reported a new daily record high of 1,135 COVID-19 cases in 2021, bringing the total nationwide cases to 621,755.

The new cases included 502 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 103 in Karbala, 94 in Najaf, and 64 in Kirkuk, while the other cases were detected in other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also reported 11 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,068, and 1,210 new recovered cases, bringing the total recoveries to 594,594.

Israel

Israel’s Health Ministry has instructed the country’s health-service providers to prepare to extend their vaccination drive to all people over the age of 16 starting Thursday.

The expected change will mean that people aged 19-35 will officially be eligible to be inoculated. Israel began its vaccination drive with people over the age of 60 and has gradually been reducing the minimum eligible age.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel will begin "gradually" lifting COVID-19 lockdown restrictions next week.

"We will start with a gradual opening as early as next week, but we will exit with caution," the prime minister told a press conference.

He said that the country's large-scale coronavirus vaccination rollout is "a key" to exiting the pandemic and the third nationwide lockdown, which was imposed on Dec 27, 2020.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 7,951 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total tally in the country to 659,356.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 4,886 after 73 new fatalities were added. 

Lebanon

Lebanon registered on Tuesday a new record of 81 daily deaths from COVID-19, raising the total number to 3,226, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the daily number of coronavirus infections increased by 2,770 to 305,842.

Maldives

Minister of Tourism of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom has said the country will vaccinate 10,000 tourism workers against COVID-19, local media reported on Tuesday.

"Workers who provide their services directly to guests at closer to 3-foot distance will be our top priority," Mausoom was quoted as saying by the Sun Online.

Minister Mausoom said the decision to vaccinate tourism workers was made by President Ibrahim Solih and the vaccination was crucial for the survival of the tourism sector.

Mongolia

Mongolia recorded 27 more COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its national tally to 1,859, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Wednesday.

"A total of 15,897 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across Mongolia yesterday and 27 of them were positive," Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the NCCD's surveillance department, said at a daily press conference.

The latest cases were locally transmitted and detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, Ambaselmaa said, adding that the number of COVID-19 infections in the capital city has risen to 1,024.

Myanmar

The number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 140,664 as of Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.

A total of 310 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Tuesday.

The death toll of COVID-19 reached 3,146 with eight newly reported on Tuesday in the country, the ministry said.

A health worker prepares to administer a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a nursing home in Szombathely, Hungary, Jan 27, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

New Zealand

New Zealand’s medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for domestic use once it arrives in the country.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the decision by Medsafe on Wednesday, saying the nation can now begin preparations for the first stage of its coronavirus vaccination rollout. The approval is provisional on the drug companies keeping the authority updated with data from clinical trials and manufacturing processes.

“Medsafe’s decision is the culmination of a rigorous assessment process over many months to ensure the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is safe and effective to use here,” Ardern said in a statement. “It is informed by the most up-to-date medical and scientific data. We can have confidence in their decision.”

New Zealand has successfully eliminated community transmission of COVID-19 but its border remains closed to foreigners, hurting key industries such as tourism. Vaccines are seen as a way of allowing more visitors in but Ardern has warned the border could be closed to the world through most of 2021 as the pandemic continues to run rampant overseas.

The government has faced criticism for a delay in accessing vaccines when other nations are already treating people. Ardern has said it is understandable that countries facing a rising death toll should get the vaccines first. However, she has expressed concern that the European Union may restrict vaccine exports.

New Zealand plans a mass vaccination program starting in the third quarter, but the government is anticipating having some doses earlier in order to immunize border workers and other front-line staff.

New Zealand reported three cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation on Wednesday. No new cases were reported in the community.

A barber works while watching a live television broadcast of Palestinian health workers getting vaccinated against COVID-19, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Feb 2, 2021. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Pakistan 

Pakistan on Wednesday formally started the drive to administer China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to its frontline healthcare workers across the country, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said.

The vaccination drive was formally kicked off simultaneously in all the four provinces and federating units of the country where chief ministers, senior ministers and health officials witnessed the administration of the vaccine doses to a few members of frontline medical staff, representing their community.

Palestine

Palestinians launched a COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Tuesday, with health workers receiving the first shots after the delivery of doses from Israel and international shipments expected within days.

Medical personnel treating coronavirus patients or working in intensive care units were inoculated at Hugo Chavez hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Israel transferred 2,000 doses of Moderna Inc’s vaccine on Monday and said it had earmarked another 3,000 shots for the Palestinians.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila, kicking off the vaccination programme, said that within days her ministry would receive 5,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and 37,000 doses from the COVAX global vaccine-sharing programme.

People over the age of 60 or with chronic illnesses will be the first to be inoculated among the general public, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday a temporary ban on the entry of citizens from 20 countries, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The ban is part of the Saudi precautionary measures against COVID-19 with a recent increase in new infections in the kingdom.

The 20 countries are Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the United States, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Pakistan, Brazil, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Turkey, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Lebanon, Egypt, India, and Japan.

The Saudi health ministry announced on Tuesday the registration of 310 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number to 368,639.

Workers clear snow at Gyeongbokgung palace in central Seoul on Jan 28, 2021. (ED JONES / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore has become the first country in Asia to grant approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and the city-state said it expects the first shipment to arrive around March.

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the second to be authorised for pandemic use in Singapore, after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is already being rolled out in the city-state.

As of Feb 2, more than 175,000 individuals have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Singapore’s health ministry said on Wednesday.

Singapore passed legislation late Tuesday that will allow the government to use COVID-19 tracing data in certain criminal investigations, formalizing legal powers that had sparked unusual controversy. The new law allows access to contact tracing data under seven categories of serious crime including murder, rape and drug trafficking. It also covers other contact tracing systems like SafeEntry, a national digital check-in system which provides a record of people who enter and exit venues.

South Korea

South Korea reported 467 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 79,311.

The daily caseload was up from 336 in the previous day, rising above 400 in four days.

The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

READ MORE: Israel says supplied first COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians

The Philippines

The Philippines has signed a preliminary deal with Moderna Inc to supply its coronavirus vaccines to the Southeast Asian nation, with a final agreement likely this month.

Moderna is among the five vaccine makers the Philippines has inked term sheets with for about 108 million doses, said Carlito Galvez, who heads the nation’s vaccine program. He didn’t specify how many doses are being sought from Moderna, although he earlier said that there are talks for up to 20 million doses.

The Philippines, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the region, targets to buy 148 million doses this year to vaccinate up to 70 percent of its population and aid the recovery of its economy that’s seen to remain in recession until this quarter.

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Wednesday 1,266 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the Southeast Asian country's total tally to 530,118.

The death toll rose to 10,942 after 68 more patients died from the coronavirus epidemic, the DOH said.

Turkey

Turkey on Tuesday reported 7,795 new COVID-19 cases, including 630 symptomatic patients, as the total confirmed cases in the country reached 2,492,977.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 120 to 26,237, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,379,070 after 8,639 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours, according to Turkish Health Ministry.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stands at 4.9 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 1,592 in the country, said the ministry.