A woman wearing a face mask walks on the sidewalk of Sudirman Street in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Veri Sanovri)

Asia-Pacific Coronavirus News: Indonesia reports 38,124 new cases, S. Korea to adopt toughest social-distancing rules in Seoul for 2 weeks

The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries on Friday:

JAKARTA — The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 38,124 within one day to 2,455,912, with the death toll adding by 871 to 64,631, the Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, 28,975 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 2,023,548.

KATHMANDU — The first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the Nepali government arrived in the capital of Kathmandu in a major boost to the Himalayan country’s stagnating vaccination drive.

A worker disinfects a fresh market in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

BANGKOK — Thailand’s COVID-19 cases rose by 9,207, the second-highest daily record since the start of the pandemic, as the country mulls tightening social distancing rules once again to contain the surge in infections.

(Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA — The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) reported 5,881 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,461,455.

The death toll climbed to 25,720 after 70 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia confirmed 988 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the national caseload to 59,045, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

The new infections included 789 local cases and 199 imported cases, the MoH said.

WELLINGTON — Rising case numbers in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) has changed public health advice and means flights back from NSW will not start from midnight Friday as was intended, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

A medical worker prepares a dose of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on July 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

ISLAMABAD  — Pakistan on Thursday confirmed 1,737 new COVID-19 cases, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said.

The NCOC said that the country’s number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 969,476, including 911,383 recoveries.

NEW DELHI — India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 30,752,950, with 43,393 new confirmed cases registered during the past 24 hours across the South Asian country, showed the federal health ministry’s latest data.

Besides, 911 more deaths due to the pandemic since Thursday morning took the total death toll to 405,939.

File photo taken on Jan. 14, 2021 shows people walking past Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

CANBERRA/SYDNEY — The Australian government said 4.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine due to arrive in Australia in September now could be available in August.

Up to 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Australia every week from July 19, up from about 350,000 per week currently.

The state of South Australia will trial home quarantine for fully vaccinated international arrivals.

Australia’s state of New South Wales announced to further tighten restrictions on Greater Sydney and surrounding areas as the state continues to see a surge in daily increase of COVID-19 cases.

People wearing face masks take the escalator at Yongsan Station in Seoul, South Korea, July 8, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

SEOUL — South Korea reported 1,316 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 165,344.

It was slightly up from the record daily high of 1,275 tallied in the previous day, continuing to break records for the second consecutive day.

South Korea’s health ministry said it will adopt the toughest social-distancing rules in the Seoul metropolitan area for two weeks as a record number of COVID-19 cases were reported in recent days.

YANGON — Myanmar will temporarily close all schools of basic education once again, due to the recent detection of highly infectious COVID-19 virus variants in the Asian country, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.