HONG KONG, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Thailand reported 4,108 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily tally of this month, and 31 more deaths in the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries on Thursday.
The new cases raised the country's total case tally to 232,647, with more than 85 percent of these infections reported since early April when the third wave of the outbreak began, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
New Zealand reported no new COVID-19 cases after massive tests following raised alert level in the Wellington region. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the situation is "reassuring."
In Nepal, online classes amid a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic have been boosting the import of mobile phones to the country, according to data released by the country's Department of Customs on Wednesday.
Sixty-three people have died due to COVID-19-related complications in Afghanistan within the last 24 hours, increasing the national toll to 4,519, the country's Ministry of Public Health reported.
The ministry also recorded 1,967 new cases during the period, bringing the number of infected people across the country to 111,592, including 39,682 active cases, the ministry said in a graph providing daily COVID-19 figures.
Cambodia registered 655 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total tally to 45,366, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement. The new infections included 583 local cases and 72 imported cases, the ministry said.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 6,043 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,378,260. The death toll climbed to 24,036 after 108 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.
China delivered an additional batch of Sinovac CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines. "The new shipment is the fourth batch of Sinovac vaccines delivered this month," Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the government's measures to combat COVID-19, said in a statement.
The Lao Ministry of Health has planned to inoculate 80 percent of the population in the Lao capital Vientiane against COVID-19 by the end of this year in order to create herd immunity and break the chain of the coronavirus infection.
Nationwide, the ministry aims to vaccinate 50 percent of the country's total population during the same period.
India's top health research bodies, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), are set to conduct a study to examine the efficacy of the Indian vaccines against the Delta Plus variant of the COVID-19 virus, local media reports said.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 30,082,778 on Thursday, with 54,069 new cases registered during the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry. The death toll rose to 391,981 as 1,321 deaths were recorded since Wednesday morning.
Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) continued to brush off calls for a lockdown despite an increase in locally acquired COVID-19 cases. The number of cases linked to a cluster in a suburb in Sydney's east rose to 36, the state's health department said.
The Australian government will phase out the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine from October.
COVID-19 Task Force commander Lieutenant General John Frewen on Wednesday night released Department of Health projections detailing the vaccine doses each state and territory will be allocated every week for the rest of the year.
Pakistan recorded 1,097 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the total tally to 951,865, official data showed.
According to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the country's nerve center in fighting against the pandemic, 38 patients died of COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 22,108.
South Korea reported 610 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 153,155. The daily caseload was down from 645 in the prior day, staying above 600 for two days. The daily average caseload for the past week was 489. Enditem