People walk with their luggage towards Malaysia, as seen from Sungai Kolok district in southern Thailand's Narathiwat province on June 1, 2022, after Malaysia and Thailand re-opened their land borders following the loosening of restrictions related to the coronavirus. (MADAREE TOHLALA / AFP)

SINGAPORE / WELLINGTON / KUALA LUMPUR / SEOUL / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD - Malaysians have been urged to take precautions including wearing face masks as fresh COVID-19 infections continue to spike in the country, an official said on Monday.

Malaysia is experiencing another COVID-19 wave which has seen new infections rise by 16.5 percent to 16,917 cases from the previous week's 14,525 cases between Oct 23 and 29, caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told a press conference.

"We are faced with a small wave and we are not certain whether this will change. However, we found that in terms of entry to government hospitals, the most is among those who have mild symptoms. Not serious symptoms," he said, adding that the use of beds in the intensive care units has increased by 2 percent.

Given the current situation, Khairy said that face mask usage is now "highly recommended" especially as the country will hold a snap general election on Nov. 19.

"Be careful. We are still not mandating masks but it is highly recommended. We highly encourage the use of face masks, especially among those aged 50 years old and above, those with chronic health problems and those with immune system deficiencies," he said.

Malaysia underwent several lockdowns as part of its efforts to combat the disease between 2020 and April of this year along with a variety of other measures, including a national immunization campaign.

Malaysia reported 3,129 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Sunday, bringing the national total to 4,900,051, according to the ministry.

Two new deaths have been reported, leaving the death toll at 36,466.

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India

India's daily COVID-19 caseload Monday fell to 1,326, officials said.

According to federal health ministry data released on Monday morning, 1,326 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,653,592 in the country.

The cases reported on Monday mark a decrease in comparison to the daily caseload of 1,604 on Sunday.

The country also logged eight related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 529,024 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

People return to shopping at Newmarket in Auckland, New Zealand as some COVID-19 restrictions were eased, Nov 10, 2021. (ALEX BURTON / NEW ZEALAND HERALD VIA AP)

New Zealand

New Zealand recorded 20,522 new community cases of COVID-19 and 18 more deaths from the pandemic over the past week, the country's Ministry of Health said on Monday.

On average, new cases per day reached 2,926 in last week. The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide in early July.

With the fresh cases, New Zealand has reported 1,851,689 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,106 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.

Currently, 323 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals in the country, including eight in intensive care units or high dependency units, showed official data.

Pakistan

Pakistan has reported 38 new COVID-19 cases, the country's ministry of health said on Monday.

The overall tally of the infected people climbed to 1,574,067 across the country after adding the fresh cases, according to the data released by the ministry.

A total of 30,626 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, with no more death reported, according to the ministry's statistics.

Singapore Airlines stewardesses walk past a giant lollipop candy display at Changi International Airport in Singapore on April 1, 2022, as Singapore reopened its land and air borders to travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. (ROSLOAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore reported 3,240 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total tally to 2,099,760.

Of the new cases, 400 were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 2,840 through ARTs (antigen rapid test), according to statistics released by the country's Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 385 were local transmissions and 15 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 2,659 local transmissions and 181 imported cases.

Two more deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Sunday, taking the total death toll to 1,676.  

ALSO READ: Singapore reports 4,631 new COVID-19 cases

South Korea

South Korea reported 18,510 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 25,557,309, the health authorities said Monday.

The daily caseload was down from 34,511 in the previous day, but it was higher than 14,296 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Among the new cases, 56 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 69,697.

Eighteen more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 29,176. The total fatality rate was 0.11 percent.