MANILA – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) reported 15,789 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, raising the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,475,293. The DOH said the number of active cases dropped to 230,410, as the country’s positivity rate dipped further to 35.8 percent from 37.2 percent the previous day. … Read more
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has added 5,196 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Wednesday. The country’s number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,386,348, according to the NCOC, the department leading Pakistan’s campaign against the pandemic. Another 15 people lost their lives over the … Read more
ANKARA – Turkey on Tuesday reported 76,341 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections to 11,090,493. The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 174 to 86,299, while 82,203 more people recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish Health Ministry. A total of 418,427 tests were conducted over the … Read more
SANTIAGO – Chile surpassed 2 million accumulated cases of COVID-19 after detecting 14,291 new cases in 24 hours, raising the total caseload to 2,001,346, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. In its daily pandemic report, the ministry said eight more deaths related to COVID-19 in the same 24 hours brought the death toll to 39,543. … Read more
PARIS – France’s daily number of COVID-19 cases hit a new record on Tuesday after 501,635 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to data from the country’s Public Health Agency. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care had fallen by 35 from a day before to 3,741 on Tuesday, but a … Read more
ADDIS ABABA – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 10,609,112 as of Tuesday evening, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) said the death toll across the continent stands at 237,197 and some 9,534,559 patients have recovered from the … Read more
ULAN BATOR – Mongolia recorded 3,080 new local infections of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the national tally to 434,735, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday. Among the latest confirmed cases, 1,815 were detected in the national capital Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country’s population of 3.4 million. … Read more
NEW DELHI – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 40,085,116 on Wednesday, as 285,914 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the South Asian country, according to the federal health ministry’s latest data. Meanwhile, 665 deaths due to the pandemic reported since Tuesday morning took the total death toll to 491,127. Read more: … Read more
WELLINGTON – The New Zealand government on Wednesday announced a three-phase plan that aims to slow down and curb the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country. “Through the course of managing Omicron, we will be taking a phased approach. As case numbers grow, both testing and isolation approaches will change in … Read more
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil registered 487 more deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours as of Tuesday, bringing the pandemic death toll to 623,843, the Health Ministry said. According to the ministry’s daily pandemic report, tests detected 183,722 new COVID-19 infections in the same period, raising the accumulated caseload to 24,311,317. The number of new … Read more
SEOUL – South Korea’s daily number of new COVID-19 cases hit a new record high due to the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus, the health authorities said Wednesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country reported 13,012 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising … Read more
BEIJING – The Chinese mainland on Tuesday recorded 24 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday. Of the new local infections, 14 were reported in Beijing, four in Heilongjiang, two in Xinjiang, and one each in Hebei, Liaoning, Henan, and Guangdong, according to the commission. Read more: Chinese mainland’s new local … Read more
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia reported 4,066 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 2,840,225, according to the health ministry. There are 442 new imported cases, with 3,624 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed. A further 16 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 31,918. … Read more
SINGAPORE: The regional gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 10 ASEAN member states plus China, Japan and South Korea will be 4.9 per cent for 2022, a recent report showed. The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) published its quarterly update of the ASEAN+3 regional economic outlook on Tuesday, and forecast the region’s inflation to remain … Read more
WASHINGTON: Pfizer and BioNTech have begun enrollment for a clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of their Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in adults aged up to 55, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla previously said at a conference that the pharmaceutical giant could be ready to file for … Read more
MANILA – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) reported 17,677 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, raising the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,459,646. The DOH said the number of active cases dropped to 247,451 as the country’s positivity rate also dipped to 37.2 percent, for the first time below 40 … Read more
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has reported 6,357 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Tuesday. The country’s number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,381,152, according to the NCOC, the department leading Pakistan’s campaign against the pandemic. Another 17 people lost their lives over the … Read more
ULAN BATOR – Mongolia’s COVID-19 tally rose to 431,655 after 1,978 new local infections were reported in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the country’s death toll increased to 2,025 after four more COVID-19 patients died in the past day. The Omicron cases currently account for over 90 percent of the … Read more
ANGON – Myanmar recorded 37 more COVID-19 cases of the Omicron variant on Monday, bringing the total tally of confirmed Omicron cases to 183, according to a release from its Ministry of Health. The release said the Omicron variant was found in 36 Myanmar nationals and one foreigner who recently arrived in Myanmar by relief … Read more
HONIARA: Lockdowns in Samoa and the Solomon Islands were extended Tuesday as Covid-19 outbreaks worsened in remote Pacific island nations that have previously held the pandemic at bay. Pacific nations, many just dots in the vast ocean, successfully used their isolation as a buffer to the pandemic when they closed their borders in early 2020. … Read more
SANTIAGO – Chile registered 14,780 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, a new daily record fueled by the Omicron variant of the virus, for a total of 1,984,190 cases, the Ministry of Health said Monday. In the same period, according to the ministry’s daily report, 23 deaths associated with COVID-19 were recorded, bringing the … Read more
TOKYO – A member of Japan’s Self-Defense Force (SDF) unit that was dispatched to provide aid to disaster-struck Tonga has tested positive for COVID-19, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said Tuesday. According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, a member of the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) tested positive for the virus after spiking a fever on Monday and … Read more
NEW DELHI – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 39,799,202 on Tuesday, as 255,874 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry’s latest data. This is the first time after five consecutive days when less than 300,000 new cases were registered in a day across India. Besides, … Read more
SEOUL – South Korea’s daily number of COVID-19 cases hit a new record high owing to the spread of the Omicron variant, the health authorities said Tuesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country reported 8,571 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of … Read more
SYDNEY – Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) will extend its COVID-19 restrictions for at least another month as the state is still battling against increasing infections. NSW Health recorded 18,512 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths in the past 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. local time Monday. Currently, 2,943 patients with infections are in NSW … Read more
WELLINGTON – New Zealand reported 25 new COVID-19 cases in the community on Tuesday, including 10 Omicron cases, bringing the total tally in the country’s current community outbreak to 11,541. Among the 10 Omicron cases, one is a household contact of a previously reported case in Nelson Tasman and was already isolating when tested positive, … Read more
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia had seen zero deaths from the COVID-19 for 20 days straight, the country’s health ministry said in a statement on Monday. According to the health ministry, the number of confirmed Omicron COVID-19 variant cases in Cambodia has risen to 625 after 40 new infections were detected. “Among the new cases, 15 … Read more
TOKYO – As Japan grapples to deal with a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases, senior government officials said Monday that 30 of the country’s 47 prefectures will be placed under a quasi-state of emergency in the coming days. Following Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holding talks with necessary Cabinet ministers later in the day regarding … Read more
