A woman scans a QR code to enter a department store in Melbourne on Oct 29, 2021 as the city further lifts COVID-19 restrictions allowing non-essential retail shops to open and travel to the regions of Victoria after the city's sixth lockdown.(WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

JAKARTA / JERUSALEM / KUALA LUMPUR / PHNOM PENH / SEOUL / SINGAPORE / SYDNEY / TOKYO / ULAN BATOR / YANGON - Authorities of Australia's state of Victoria announced on Thursday that it will ease a number of COVID-19 restrictions as the hospitalization numbers are decreasing.

Victoria reported 8,501 new cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths on Thursday. The number of hospitalization gradually dropped from Monday's 465 to 401.

Victorian authorities said with hospitalization numbers and community transmission decreasing and more than half of Victorians aged over 16 vaccinated with three doses, a number of common-sense restrictions and recommendations in place during the state's Omicron surge can be safely eased.

From 6:00 pm local time (0700 GMT) on Friday, density limits will be removed for the state's hospitality venues, and indoor dancefloors will be allowed to reopen. Mandatory surveillance COVID-19 testing for key industries, such as meat processing, will become recommended only.

The 14-day hotel quarantine period for international visitors and aircrew who are not fully vaccinated will also be reduced to seven days.

QR code check-ins will only stay in place at hospitality and entertainment venues, while retail businesses, schools and workplaces will no longer need to be checked in.

Some mitigation strategies in office-based settings, such as mask indoors will still be mandatory, but the health department is considering relaxing such limitations in the following weeks, due to the state's relatively high triple-dose vaccination coverage.

A worker sprays disinfectant inside a teacher's room during a pause in lessons after a case of COVID-19 was found at a school Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Feb 11, 2022.  (BINSAR BAKKARA / AP)

Indonesia

Indonesia on Wednesday confirmed 64,718 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 4,966,046, the country's Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the death toll from COVID-19 in the country rose by 167 to 145,622, while 25,386 more people recovered from the disease during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,375,234.

As the Indonesian government is accelerating its national vaccination programs to curb the spread of the virus, more than 188.83 million people have received their first doses of vaccines, while over 137.48 million have taken the second doses.

Indonesia started mass COVID-19 vaccinations in January last year after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

Aiming to fully vaccinate 208.2 million people in the country, the government has administered over 333.82 million doses, including the booster jabs.

READ MORE: Indonesia to give booster shots to public from Jan 12

Israel

Israel's Tourism Ministry has launched a 25-million-shekel (about 7.84 million US dollars) plan on Wednesday to support the country's tour guides amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan is part of a government decision to assist the Israeli tourism industry, which has sustained significant losses inflicted by the pandemic.

According to the plan, tens of thousands of free guided tours will be provided to the public, helping jobless guides go back to work.

The free tours will be offered daily through the websites of the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority and in various cities.

To date, more than 1,800 tour guides have joined in the project, the ministry said.

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus rest at a lobby of Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan, Dec 28, 2020. (KOJI SASAHARA / AP)

Japan

Japan is set to announce on Thursday that it will ease border controls put in place to counter the spread of the coronavirus, measures that are the strictest among wealthy nations.

About 150,000 foreign students have been kept out of the country, along with workers desperately needed by an aging nation with a shrinking population, prompting warnings of labor shortages and damage to Japan's international reputation.  

Japan briefly eased its border rules, which have effectively kept the nation closed to non-residents for two years, late in 2021 but tightened them again just weeks later as the Omicron variant emerged overseas.

Among the measures set to be announced will be raising the number of people allowed to enter Japan to 5,000 a day from the current 3,500, according to media reports.

Others are likely to include shortening the required quarantine period, currently a week, to three days under certain circumstances, such as the coronavirus risk level in the nation people travel from and whether they are fully vaccinated, including a booster shot.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce the new measures at a news conference on Thursday. They would take effect in stages from March, media reports say.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 27,831 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 3,111,514, according to the health ministry.

There are 118 new imported cases, with 27,713 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

A further 21 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 32,180.

The ministry reported 7,912 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 2,876,450.

There are 202,884 active cases, 204 are being held in intensive care and 116 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

Mongolia

Mongolia registered 874 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 460,242, the country's health ministry said Thursday.

Meanwhile, three more COVID-19 patients over 40 died in the past day, bringing the death toll to 2,080.

Currently, there are a total of 25,514 active COVID-19 cases across the country, the ministry said.

So far, 66.8 percent of the country's population of 3.4 million people have received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while more than 1,016,700 people over 18 received a third dose.

More than 93,900 people have received a fourth shot, which the country started to administer in January on a voluntary basis.  

Myanmar

Myanmar has fully vaccinated over 20.3 million people against COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the country's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

It said over 23.1 million people in the country have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the ministry's figures, Myanmar reported 2,740 new coronavirus cases with daily test positivity rate of 8.98 percent and four more deaths in the past 24 hours.

The number of COVID-19 infections has risen to 553,564 while its death toll has reached 19,318 in the country on Wednesday.

Another 1,208 patients have been discharged from hospitals on Wednesday, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 520,092.

People are dwarfed against the financial skyline as they take photos of the Merlion statue along the Marina Bay area in Singapore, June 30, 2020. (YONG TECK LIM / FILE / AP)

Singapore

Singapore will expand quarantine-free travel to Hong Kong, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this month, its health ministry said on Wednesday, resuming border reopening after a pause due to an outbreak of the coronavirus.

The city-state will also restore and increase quotas under its vaccinated travel program, which had been reduced in December to deal with the Omicron variant. 

Singapore will streamline border measures for all travelers, and remove an entry approval requirement for eligible residents who are long-term pass holders, its health ministry said

Singapore will streamline border measures for all travelers, and remove an entry approval requirement for eligible residents who are long-term pass holders, the ministry said, making it easier for expatriates to travel.

However, some overseas workers with different permits typically employed in sectors such as construction and manufacturing will still need an entry approval.

The country intends to eventually scrap vaccinated travel lanes for visitors from designated countries to allow entry to all vaccinated visitors without quarantine, authorities said.

About two dozen countries are in the vaccinated travel lane program including Australia, India, Malaysia, Britain and the United States. 

Singapore reported a record 19,179 local coronavirus infections on Tuesday, but a majority of the cases had mild or no symptoms. The government said the caseload was within expectations and that the overall situation in the healthcare system remained stable.

The government announced a raft of changes to local COVID-19 measures, including easing rules for close contacts of confirmed cases, removing routine testing for workers in several sectors and allowing more interactions at residences and workplaces.

Singapore will ease social and travel restrictions when the Omicron wave subsides, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said, adding that the new local rules on testing and isolation placed more weight on personal responsibility rather than legal requirements.

South Korea

South Korea's daily number of COVID-19 cases hit a record high amid the spread of the Omicron variant, the health authorities said on Thursday.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country reported 93,135 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 1,645,978.

The recent resurgence was driven by infections in the Seoul metropolitan area amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, which became a dominant strain in the country.

Of the new cases, 19,678 were Seoul residents. The number of newly infected people living in Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon was 28,438 and 7,232 respectively.

Among the new cases, 90 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 27,748.
Thirty-six more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 7,238. The total fatality rate was 0.44 percent.

Vietnam

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son tested positive for COVID-19 upon his arrival in Cambodia on Wednesday afternoon, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said.

Son visited Cambodia for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat, which is scheduled for Thursday.

"I would like to wish (a) swift recovery to our colleague Bui Thanh Son, who tested positive on his arrival," Sokhonn said in a speech during a welcome dinner for ASEAN foreign ministers.

Cambodia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEAN foreign ministers' retreat will be held in a hybrid format, with some ministers attending the event in person, and others via videoconference.

According to the organizers, as of Wednesday evening, foreign ministers of Singapore, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam arrived in Cambodia.