Photo taken on July 21, 2021 shows a sign of COVID-19 countermeasures at the Equestrian Park in Tokyo, Japan. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)
-- Japan to provide AstraZeneca vaccine to COVID-19 state of emergency areas;
-- Thailand's daily cases surpass 20,000 for 1st time;
-- New Zealand administers 2 million vaccines.
HONG KONG, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries on Wednesday:
TOKYO -- The Japanese government will give priority to providing British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 vaccine to six areas under the latest COVID-19 state of emergency, Japan's minister in charge of the country's vaccine rollout has said, according to local media reports.
The Japanese capital reported a single-day record of 4,166 new COVID-19 cases amid the continuous surge of infection cases in the country, with an all-time high of 14,207 cases nationwide until 6:25 p.m. local time, local media reported.
Vehicles in heavy traffic are seen in Makati of Metro Manila, the Philippines, July 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 7,342 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,619,824.
The death toll climbed to 28,231 after 90 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.
People wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)
BANGKOK -- Thailand reported 20,220 new COVID-19 cases, the first time the figure has surpassed 20,000 since the start of the pandemic.
The new infections brought the country's caseload to 672,385, official data from the Ministry of Public Health showed. The new fatalities also rose by a record high of 188, taking the death toll to 5,503.
People wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Vodafone Events Center, south of Auckland, New Zealand, July 31, 2021. (Photo by Zhao Gang/Xinhua)
WELLINGTON -- New Zealand saw another milestone in administering COVID-19 vaccines, with two million COVID-19 vaccines being given to Kiwis.
The pandemic is not coming to an end and it is important to keep the virus, particularly the Delta variant, out of the country, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told a press conference.
The country reported two new cases of COVID-19 in recent returnees in managed isolation facilities, and no cases in the community.
An adolescent receives her first dose of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 1, 2021. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia has one of the highest percentages of COVID-19 vaccination among its adult population in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region, the United Nations in Cambodia said in a statement released late on Tuesday.
People take a rest on an empty street in Sydney, Australia, July 28, 2021. (Photo by Hu Jingchen/Xinhua)
SYDNEY/CANBERRA -- As Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) saw another peak in daily increase of local COVID-19 cases, local transmission again gripped some other states.
NSW Health recorded 233 new locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. local time Tuesday, a slight drop from the 241 cases on Aug. 1, when the highest daily increase in the latest outbreak was recorded.
Australians could get coronavirus vaccines at drive-through clinics within months under a government plan to make inoculation more convenient.
People wearing face masks walk on a road in Rawalpindi of Pakistan's Punjab Province on Aug. 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan on Tuesday reported 4,722 new COVID-19 cases, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said.
The NCOC, a department leading Pakistan's campaign against the pandemic, said that the country's overall confirmed cases reached 1,047,999, including 945,829 recoveries.
A health worker collects a nasal swab sample from a man for COVID-19 infection test in Agartala, the capital city of India's northeastern state of Tripura, July 30, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,769,132 as 42,625 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 562 deaths due to the pandemic since Tuesday morning took the total death toll to 425,757.
A man wearing a facial mask walks along a street in Seoul, capital of South Korea, July 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
SEOUL -- South Korea reported 1,725 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 203,926.
The daily caseload was sharply up from 1,200 in the prior day, hovering above 1,000 for 29 straight days. The daily average tally for the past week was 1,501.
People queue up to get the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines in Kathmandu, Nepal on July 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Sulav Shrestha)
KATHMANDU -- The authorities in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley on Tuesday decided to extend the ongoing lockdown by seven more days as the South Asian country is facing rising COVID-19 cases in recent days.■
