A health worker inoculates a resident with a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine inside a Catholic church turned into a vaccination centre in Manila on May 21, 2021. (TEDALJIBE / AFP)

KUALA LUMPUR / TEHRAN / JAKARTA / KABUL / MANILA / NEW DELHI / HANOI / BANGKOK / YANGON / PHNOM PENH / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / SINGAPORE / ANKARA / COLOMBO / WELLINGTON / ULAN BATOR / ISLAMABAD - The Philippine government suspended the sending abroad of nurses, and their assistants and aides because the annual limit of 5,000 healthcare workers deployed has been reached.

The processing of permits for the medical workers has been suspended immediately, Bernard Olalia, head of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, said in a June 1 statement posted on the agency’s website.

The Philippines, which sends thousands of medical staff overseas to work every year, is seeking to reinforce its healthcare system as local coronavirus cases surge.

Healthcare staff who have been issued employment certificates to work overseas will still be allowed to leave, according to the statement.

The Philippine government also plans to spend an additional 25 billion pesos (US$524 million) to buy COVID-19 shots, the Philippine Star reported Sunday, citing Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado. The Southeast Asian country has budgeted 82.5 billion pesos this year for its vaccination program.

The Philippines also received an additional 1 million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd on Sunday, GMA News reported.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Sunday 7,228 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,269,478.

The death toll climbed to 21,898 after 166 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has authorized the emergency use of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, the fifth approval by the drug regulator in the South Asian nation.

Dhaka-based Incepta Vaccine Ltd will work as the local agent for the import of the vaccine, the Directorate General of Drug Administration said in a notice on Sunday.

Bangladesh approved the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine in April after the inoculation drive came to a halt amid a supply squeeze due to India’s ban on vaccine exports.

Malaysia

Malaysian regulators have approved clinical trials of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co, Ltd, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine will involve some 3,000 volunteers, aged 18 and above and will be conducted over a 15-19 month period, it said in a statement.

The vaccine was previously granted emergency use in China, with no adverse events with an intensity of grade 3 or above in the first two phases of its clinical trials being reported.

A grade 3 adverse event refers to side effects that are severe or medically significant but not immediately life-threatening, according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events.

Malaysia reported another 7,452 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, bringing the national total to 610,574.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that eight of the new cases are imported with 7,444 being local transmissions.

Another 109 more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 3,291.

Vietnam

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh this weekend told local governments to ease overly strict COVID-19 measures that affect production and business activity - and keep the country from dual aims of fighting the virus and developing the economy.

Vietnam is currently battling its worst outbreak. Centers including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have put social-distancing restrictions in place to curtail the spread while others have imposed controls on returnees from affected areas, Chinh said in a statement.

Vietnam reported 254 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including 246 locally transmitted and eight imported, bringing the total tally to 8,541, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

More than half of Vietnam’s new infections were reported in Bac Giang province, home to Apple Inc and Samsung suppliers along with almost a quarter million factory workers from outside the province. New locally acquired infections were 246, and three people died, the government reported Saturday.

About 150,000 vaccine doses have been administered to factory workers in Bac Giang, two days ahead of schedule, the health ministry said without specifying how many more plant workers there will be inoculated.

The northern province plans to send tens of thousands of factory workers back home to reduce transmission risk at dense quarantine facilities and areas under social distancing, newspaper Tuoi Tre reported.

Japan

Over 7,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been disposed of in Japan due to mishandling, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday, as Japan races to inoculate its people amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.

A hospital and a mass vaccination each had to dispose of some 1,000 doses of the Pfizer Inc vaccine because they expired at room temperature, while 12 doses went to waste at a ward in Tokyo because of over-dilution, a survey by the daily found.

Omuta National Hospital in the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka apologized in a statement, saying, "We hugely regret having to dispose of the precious vaccine due to our mismanagement, when many local residents are eager to get vaccinated."

People walk through an inner-city park in Melbourne on June 3, 2021 as the coronavirus lockdown of Australia's second-biggest city is extended by another seven days, authorities announced as they attempt to stamp out a cluster of cases in Melbourne. (William WEST / AFP)

Australia

Australia's second most populous state Victoria on Sunday reported two new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, raising questions over how long a hard lockdown due to end on June 10 should continue in the state's capital, Melbourne.

Two new local cases were reported, taking Victoria's total to 72, including one recovered case, in the outbreak that began in late May after a man who had tested negative in hotel quarantine in Adelaide returned to Melbourne and tested positive.

Health authorities are particularly alarmed about the emergence of the highly infectious Delta variant this week. They have so far been unable to trace the source, sparking concern that the lockdown in Melbourne may need to be extended.

The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the four COVID-19 variants of concern due to evidence that it spreads more easily, likely caused the latest devastating outbreak in India.

Iran

Iran reported on Saturday 6,442 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 2,960,751.

The pandemic has so far claimed 80,941 lives in Iran, up by 128 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a written briefing published on its official website.

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste on Saturday received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines and syringes donated by China.

Timor-Leste's Vice Prime Minister Armanda Berta dos Santos, Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste Xiao Jianguo, the Representatives of the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization to Timor-Leste and other officials from the Timor-Leste government attended the handover ceremony of the vaccines at the Dili International airport.

Ambassador Xiao said the Chinese government has followed closely the COVID-19 epidemic situation in  Timor-Leste and attached great importance to its urgent need. At this critical time, China stands in solidarity with Timor-Leste.

Daily wage laborers and jobless people due to the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 queue-up as volunteers distribute food along a road in New Delhi on May 21, 2021. (PRAKASH SINGH / AFP)

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 28,809,339 on Sunday with 114,460 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day increase in the past two-months, said the federal health ministry.

A total of 2,677 deaths since Saturday morning took the overall death toll to 346,759.

Some of India's states are easing lockdown restrictions as coronavirus infections subside, with the world's second most-populous nation on Saturday logging its lowest daily case count in nearly two months.

The national capital territory of Delhi, the seat of India's federal government, was among those relaxing restrictions and will allow shops to open on alternate days. Shops with even numbers will open on one day while those with odd numbers will open the next day. Private offices will also now be allowed to operate at 50 percent of normal staffing levels.

Hospitals in Delhi had struggled to provide oxygen cylinders and beds to patients as infections surged but that wave began subsiding from the middle of last month.

Kejriwal said the state would in future be prepared to deal with 37,000 new cases a day. Its peak thus far was 28,395 new infections on April 20.

India's federal junior minister of ports, shipping and waterways Mansukh Mandaviya said Saturday that all efforts should be made to get the seafarers vaccinated before joining their scheduled duties on board.

The functioning of seafaring industry should not get hampered due to non-vaccination of COVID-19, said the minister, who made the comments while reviewing the status of COVID-19 vaccination to the seafarers.

Afghanistan

A total of 1,273 new COVID-19 cases have been registered in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, taking the tally of affected patients to 79,236 in the country, said a statement of the Public Health Ministry released on Saturday.

According to the statement, 41 patients died due to the viral disease over the period, bringing the number of COVID-19-related deaths to 3,145 since the outbreak of COVID-19 in February 2020 in Afghanistan.

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Indonesia

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 6,594 within one day to 1,850,206, with the death toll adding by 153 to 51,449, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

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Thailand

Thailand's capital Bangkok reported a total of 58 COVID-19 clusters, which have been put on maximum surveillance, the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said Saturday.

Among the clusters are some of Bangkok's most popular shopping malls such as Siam Square, Siam Discovery and Siam Paragon where more than 100 cases of infection have been reported since April, according to CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin.

Thailand on Saturday reported 2,817 COVID-19 cases and 36 fatalities, taking the total to 174,769 cases and 1,213 deaths, Taweesin said.

Myanmar

Myanmar reported 96 new COVID-19 infections with two more deaths in the past 24 hours, according to a release from the Health and Sports Ministry on Saturday.

The number of COVID-19 positive cases rose to 144,253 while its death toll increased to 3,223 so far.

Cambodia

Cambodia's death toll from COVID-19 surged to 252 on Saturday after 10 new fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

The Southeast Asian nation also registered 538 new cases, taking the national caseload to 33,613 so far, the statement said, adding that the new infections included 509 local cases and 29 imported cases.

Brunei

Since the opening of the COVID-19 vaccination booking slots for senior citizens from April 22 till June 3, 5,226 senior citizens in Brunei have received the COVID-19 vaccine shots, the country's health ministry said Saturday.

According to the health ministry, the oldest person inoculated so far is a 96-year old local woman. She received her first COVID-19 vaccine injection on May 13 and has experienced no side effects after the injection.

Singapore

IHH Healthcare Singapore will apply to provide Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccines at Parkway Shenton clinics and selected hospitals in the country, the Straits Times reported, citing CEO Noel Yeo.

The medical services provider will offer the vaccine to Singapore citizens and residents, especially those who are unsuitable to receive Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. shots, the report said. It didn’t provide more details, such as how much it would cost to get the jab and how to register.

The Ministry of Health said last week it would allow Sinovac to be administered by private healthcare providers as part of a program that permits the use of unregistered COVID-19 jabs. Sinovac which was approved by the World Health Organization, is not part of the national program.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 18 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, including 13 locally transmitted and five imported, bringing the total tally to 62,176.

All the local cases are linked to the previous cases, and have already been placed on quarantine. The cases are in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 138 cases in the week before to 129 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at 20 cases per week in the past 2 weeks, said MOH.

Turkey

Turkey on Saturday confirmed 6,126 new COVID-19 cases, including 542 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,282,594, according to its health ministry.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 92 to 48,068 in the last 24 hours.

Sri Lanka

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka surpassed the 200,000 mark on Saturday after 3,094 patients were reported during the day, statistics from the Health Ministry showed here.

According to official figures, Sri Lanka has reported 202,357 COVID-19 cases out of which 166,132 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 34,569.

A total of 1,656 deaths have been reported from the virus.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported one new case of COVID-19 on Sunday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

The new case was a recent returnee in managed isolation facilities since the ministry's last update on Friday, while there was no new case of COVID-19 in the community, said the ministry.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border was one, and the total number of active cases on Sunday was 17.

Mongolia

Mongolia's health ministry on Sunday reported four deaths from COVID-19, including an eight-year-old girl, the country's first child fatality from the virus.

So far the disease has claimed 325 lives in Mongolia since the country's first case was reported in March last year.

The national tally climbed to 65,266 with 1,288 more reported, according to the ministry.

Pakistan

Pakistan confirmed 1,629 new positive COVID-19 cases on Saturday with a positivity rate of 3.11 percent, the lowest figure during the last three months, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Sunday.

According to the NCOC, the country's number of overall cases rose to 932,140 since February of last year when it reported the first case of its kind.

There are 47,764 active cases who are under treatment across the country, including 3,303 of them who are in critical condition.

According to the NCOC, the pandemic killed 76 people during the last 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 21,265.