In a photo taken on Dec 2, 2020 a man wearing a face mask walks along a street beneath Christmas decorations in central Seoul. (PHOTO / AFP)

WELLINGTON / RAMALLAH / BAGHDAD / DUBAI / SEOUL - South Korean authorities urged vigilance on Saturday as small coronavirus clusters emerged in a third wave, centred in the Seoul area, with infections near nine-month highs.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 583 new coronavirus infections, down from the 629 reported on Friday, which was the highest since the first wave peaked in February and early March.

After implementing tighter restrictions on Saturday, the government is to decide on Sunday whether to further tighten curbs in a country that had seen initial success through aggressive contact tracing and other steps.

Infections of the virus that causes COVID-19 averaged 487.9 this week, up 80 cases from the week before. This wave of infections is different from the first two, which were driven by large-scale transmission, said KDCA official Lim Sook-young.

“The recent outbreaks are small, multiple and is spread in people’s everyday lives,” Lim told a news briefing. “Please keep in mind that the current wave is not limited to a specific group or place but may be around our homes, family and acquaintances.”

Seoul accounted for 235 of the new infections. More than half of South Korea’s 52 million people live in the capital and surrounding areas.

Among Seoul’s small but widespread clusters, confirmed cases linked to a dance class rose by nine to 249 in less than two weeks, while 21 people tested positive in a cluster related to a wine bar.

Seoul launched unprecedented curfews on Saturday, shuttering most establishments and shops at 9 pm (1200 GMT) for two weeks and cutting back public transportation operations by 30% in the evenings.

Tighter restrictions would be a blow to Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in October, the highest since July.

The number of people seriously or severely ill with COVID-19 rose by five to 121, using more of the nation’s swindling sickbeds, KDCA reported.

The health authorities said on Friday there were just 59 sickbeds immediately available for serious or severe cases and that the beds might run out in less than two weeks.

South Korea has reported 36,915 coronavirus infections and 540 deaths, the KDCA said.

Bahrain 

Bahrain said on Friday it has granted emergency use authorisation for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the second country after Britain to approve it.

The Gulf Arab state had also approved Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine in November for use by frontline workers.

“The approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will add a further important layer to the Kingdom’s national COVID-19 response,” Dr. Mariam Al Jalahma, CEO of Bahrain’s National Health Regulatory Authority said in a statement.

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Japan

Tokyo reported a daily record of 584 new COVID-19 infections Saturday, bringing an accumulative total of reported cases to 43,377 in the capital, with 55 serious cases.

New Zealand

New Zealand registered nine new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation on Saturday, with no new community cases reported.

The nine new cases include one historical case and eight active cases, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the cases have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

The ministry said the varied origins of these cases were another clear reminder of the critical importance of the mandatory isolation and testing program, with high numbers of New Zealanders returning home before the holiday period.

"The Ministry of Health again wants to thank all staff at the managed isolation and quarantine facilities for their efforts in keeping New Zealand safe."

The total number of active cases is now 59 and the total number of confirmed cases has reached 1,722. 

Palestine

The Palestinian authorities on Friday tightened the precautionary measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories.

A complete lockdown and a curfew took effect in the West Bank for two days, amid intensified deployment of security and police barriers to ensure compliance with the tightened measures.

The Hamas-run Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip said in a press statement that it closed all mosques, schools, universities and kindergartens.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila announced earlier on Friday that the ministry recorded 17 new deaths and 1,968 new COVID-19 cases in the Palestinian territories, bringing the death toll to 890 and the total infections to 108,280. 

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Friday 1,855 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 560,622.

It also reported 26 new deaths and 1,909 more recovered cases in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,387 and the total recoveries to 489,772.

A total of 3,609,466 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February, with 32,874 done during the day, according to a ministry statement.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi noted in a press release that the recovery rate from coronavirus reached 87 percent and the death rate was about 2.2 percent, while the test capacity for the disease exceeded 30,000 tests per day.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported three new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 58,242.

All of the new cases are imported.

On Friday, seven more cases of COVID-19 has been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 58,152 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, the ministry said.

There are currently 28 confirmed cases still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Furthermore, 33 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

Altogether 29 people have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection in Singapore. 

Singapore Airlines will prioritize freight capacity for shipping Covid-19 vaccines and it will soon conduct test flights to trial procedures, the Straits Times reported. The carrier has seven Boeing Co. 747-400 freighters ready to carry vaccines. Its passenger fleet can also be used to ramp up capacity.

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Iran

Iran's death toll from COVID-19 approached 50,000 on Friday. Meanwhile, Iraq's total nationwide coronavirus cases exceeded 560,000.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 347 new deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 49,695.

The country recorded 13,341 new patients on the same day, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,016,835, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

According to Lari, a total of 708,106 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,824 remain in intensive care units.

In the meantime, Iranian authorities announced the extension of COVID-19 restrictions in the high-risk areas for two more weeks.

Iraq

In Iraq, 1,855 new COVID-19 cases were detected during the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide infections to 560,622.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Iraq rose to 12,387 after 26 fatalities were added, while the total recoveries increased to 489,772 as 1,909 more patients recovered.

Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi noted in a press release that the recovery rate from coronavirus reached 87 percent and the death rate was about 2.2 percent, while the test capacity for the disease exceeded 30,000 tests per day.

Al-Tamimi said important talks are underway with Pfizer/BioNTech to advance the date of its COVID-19 vaccine supply, adding AstraZeneca confirmed its readiness to supply Iraq with its vaccine within one or two months.

"Iraq wants to obtain the largest quantity of any vaccine guaranteed by international approvals for more than 20 percent of its population, or about 8 million people," al-Tamimi noted.

Turkey

Turkey reported 32,736 COVID-19 cases, including 6,903 symptomatic patients, as the total number of symptomatic COVID-19 patients in the country increased to 527,070, its health ministry announced.

The death toll from coronavirus in Turkey rose by 193 to 14,509, while the total recoveries climbed to 423,142 after 4,811 more patients recovered in the last 24 hours.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced on Friday 234 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 358,336.

The recoveries rose to 348,238 with 357 more recovered cases in the kingdom, while the death toll reached 5,940 with the registration of 10 more fatalities.

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 1,234 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the tally to 342,101.

The number of deaths reached 2,896 with six new fatalities, while the total recoveries rose to 327,162, with 707 new ones.

Earlier on the day, the Israeli police published weekly COVID-19 restrictions enforcement data, according to which 9,708 fine tickets were issued between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3 for not wearing a face mask.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Israel in late February, the police have issued almost 410,000 fine tickets for violating restrictions.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 1,311 new cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 174,062.

The tally of recoveries in the UAE rose to 157,828 after 793 more patients have recovered from the virus and the death toll reached 586 with one more death.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 343 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 143,917 and the death toll to 886 in the country.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 474 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 139,148.

Qatar

In Qatar, 166 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 139,643, including 239 deaths and 136,872 recoveries.

Palestine 

Palestine reported 1,968 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 108,280, which included 890 deaths and 82,809 recoveries.

India

India's COVID-19 tally reached 9,608,211 on Saturday as 36,652 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.

According to the data, the death toll mounted to 139,700 as 512 more patients died since Friday morning.

Over 4,000 new cases were registered in the national capital during the past 24 hours.

There are still 409,689 active cases in the country, while 9,058,822 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment, added the ministry's latest data.

Meanwhile, the federal government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities across the country. Till Friday a total of 145,885,512 tests were conducted, out of which 1,157,763 tests were conducted on Friday alone, said the figures released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday. 

Health minister of the northern Indian state of Haryana Anil Vij, who was given a trial dose of a COVID-19 vaccine last month, tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.

Vij, who is the holding charge of several ministries including health, said on Twitter that he has contracted the virus and urged people who came in contact with him in recent days to undergo a test.

Mongolia 

Mongolia on Saturday confirmed 11 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the national tally to 842, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).

"A total of 20,240 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across Mongolia in the past 24 hours, and 11 of them were positive," Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the surveillance department of the NCCD, said at a daily press conference.

The Asian country's nationwide lockdown, imposed on Nov. 12 to halt the virus's spread, expired Tuesday.

However, the government has extended the lockdown in Ulan Bator and the provinces of Selenge and Arkhangai by 10 days until Dec. 11.

The country has recorded 368 recoveries and no deaths so far.