Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Nikkei Asia is tracking the spread of the coronavirus that was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Cumulative global cases have reached 253,882,518 according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The worldwide death toll has hit 5,107,258.
For more information about the spread of COVID-19 and vaccination progress around the world, please see our interactive charts and maps.Tuesday, Nov. 16 (Tokyo time)
4:30 p.m. Over 75% of Japan’s entire population has been fully vaccinated as of Monday, the government says, with new infections easing. The country reported just 79 new cases on Monday, the lowest daily count so far this year. Authorities are preparing to administer booster shots from December to prevent a possible resurgence.1:38 p.m. India logs 8,865 new cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily count in over nine months, bringing the country’s total to 34.46 million. Fatalities rose by 197 to 463,852.
11:00 a.m. South Korea reports 2,125 new cases, up from 2,006 a day earlier, with the number of patients in serious condition hitting a record high of 495. Deaths from COVID rose by 22 to a cumulative total of 3,137.
10:20 a.m. China reports 22 new cases for Monday, down from 52 a day earlier. Of the new infections, 11 were locally transmitted cases, compared with 32 the previous day. China also reports 13 new asymptomatic patients, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, compared with 14 the day before. The country has recorded over 1,300 local cases in the latest outbreak since mid-October, forcing authorities to place affected areas under strict curbs as China maintains its zero-COVID policy.9:30 a.m. Two billion doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine have been supplied worldwide, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker and its partner say, in just under a year since its first approval. The shot, which is the biggest contributor to the COVAX vaccine sharing scheme backed by the World Health Organization, is being made in 15 countries for supply to more than 170 nations.
5:10 a.m. Japan, India and Pakistan have moved down to the lowest level of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 travel advisory scale. The three countries are now considered “low” risk destinations for the disease. The CDC told Americans to make sure they are fully vaccinated before traveling to these countries. Liberia, Gambia and Mozambique have also been lowered to the Level 1 designation.
1:40 a.m. New York City clears the way for all adults to receive a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine as the city braces for a wave of new infections amid cold weather. City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi says he is issuing an official advisory instructing all health care providers in the five boroughs to offer the extra booster dose to any adult who wants one. “There should be no barriers to accessing a booster shot, provided that someone is an adult, meaning 18 or older,” Chokshi says.Monday, Nov. 15
8:00 p.m. Singapore announces the inclusion of Indonesia and several other countries under its Vaccinated Travel Lane program that lets passengers enter the city-state without quarantine. India is also expected to be included. Fully inoculated travelers from Indonesia can enter Singapore from Nov. 29, subject to COVID-19 tests. Transport Minister S. Iswaran says the goal is to allow travelers from India on the same day. Those from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can enter starting Dec. 6.
The city-state has already included countries such as Malaysia, Brunei, Germany, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the U.K. and U.S. under the arrangement, as it moves to revive air travel and rebuild its status as a regional hub.5:00 a.m. Israel says children aged 5 to 11 will be eligible for vaccination and that a starting date for the inoculation campaign would be announced within days. The decision followed approval by an expert panel on vaccinations last week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for the age group at a 10-microgram dose. The jab given to those aged 12 and older is 30 micrograms. The two companies have said their vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11.
0:20 a.m. Singapore reports 1,723 cases compared with 2,304 the previous day, with 10 new deaths. Sunday, Nov. 14
5:56 p.m. Cambodia will stop requiring quarantine for vaccinated travelers from Monday, Prime Minister Hun Sen says. The announcement was made via social media in a voice message. The country had previously required a lengthy quarantine of more than 18 months. Travelers will have to show a negative test 72 hours prior to travel and have had two jabs. Unvaccinated travelers will have to quarantine for 14 days.
1:29 p.m. The city of Beijing says people who recently visited China’s ports of entry should avoid coming to the capital, as the country remains concerned about infections from abroad amid a monthlong outbreak. The small northern administrative divisions of Heihe, Erenhot and Ejina, along China’s borders with Russia and Mongolia, were among the hardest-hit areas in an outbreak since mid-October that has seen more than 1,200 domestically transmitted cases.
1:25 p.m. Australia could start administering jabs for children under age 12 in January. Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators are reviewing the health and safety data for vaccines targeting children between the ages of 5 and 11 and are unlikely to decide this year. “The expectation that they have set is the first part of January, hopefully early January,” Hunt told the Australian Broadcast Corporation. “But they’re going as quickly as possible.”
2:35 a.m. Young children in Vienna can start getting coronavirus vaccinations next week as part of a pilot project, Austria media reports. Broadcaster ORF reported that about 200 children between the ages of 5 and 11 can get jabs of the Pfizer vaccine each day in the Austrian capital starting Monday. The pilot project is limited to Vienna only and doesn’t apply to the rest of the country.
1:57 a.m. Morocco will conduct rapid COVID-19 tests to passengers arriving in its airports and ports, and will deny access to any visitor with a positive result, the government says. The measure, which strengthens an existing requirement of a negative PCR test 48 hours before departure, aims to protect the country amid a surge of cases in Europe. Travelers with positive tests must be returned at the cost of the airline that brought them into the country, unless they have a permanent residency document, the government says.
Saturday, Nov. 13 11:51 p.m. Singapore’s Health Ministry reports 2,304 new cases compared with 3,099 the previous day, along with 14 deaths. Of the new cases, 2,179 are reported in the community, 120 in the migrant worker dormitories and five are imported cases. The weekly infection growth rate is 0.98.
10:15 p.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls on all unvaccinated Germans to get their shots as quickly as possible as the country’s infection rate hit the latest in a string of new highs and death numbers were growing, the Associated Press reports. “If we stand together, if we think about protecting ourselves and caring for others, we can save our country a lot this winter,” Merkel says in her weekly podcast.
6 p.m. Thailand will delay the reopening of nightlife entertainment venues to Jan. 15 despite pleas from the industry to open sooner. A spokesman for the government’s COVID-19 administration cited concerns about ventilation and inefficient prevention measures in pubs, bars and karaoke joints, the Associated Press reports. The Thailand Nightlife and Entertainment Business Association had hoped that nightlife businesses, shut since April, would reopen next month.
5:43 p.m. According to Reuters, Russia reports a record one-day death toll of 1,241 from COVID-19 as well as 39,256 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
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