NEW DELHI (AP) — India on Thursday reported 86,821 new coronaviruses cases and another 1,181 fatalities, making September its worst month of the pandemic.
The Health Ministry’s update for the past 24 hours raised India’s total to more than 6.3 million people infected and 98,678 dead from COVID-19. India added 41% of its confirmed cases and 34% of fatalities in September alone.
India is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country within weeks, surpassing the United States, where more than 7.2 million people have been infected.
The government announced further easing of restrictions to start Oct. 15. Cinemas, theaters and multiplexes can open with up to 50% of seating capacity, and swimming pools can also be used by athletes in training.
The government also said India’s 28 states can decide on reopening of schools and coaching institutions gradually after Oct. 15. However, the students will have the option of attending online classes.
International commercial flights will remain suspended until Oct. 31. However, evacuation flights will continue to and from the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Japan and several other countries.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the world’s stringent lockdown across the country late March, but started easing restrictions after two months to revive the severely-hit economy that contracted an unprecedented 24% in the April-June quarter. The lockdown cost more than 10 million impoverished migrant workers their jobs in the cities.
In other developments around the Asia-Pacific region:
— Malaysia reported its second highest daily increase in coronavirus cases, 260, on Thursday, triggered by an outbreak in eastern Sabah state on Borneo island. Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said the spike is alarming because the outbreak, initially confined to Sabah and another northern state, has spread with new clusters emerging nationwide. The spread correlated with a recent surge in travel to Sabah for a state election on Saturday. The government has locked down several hotspots in Sabah, and announced Thursday it will ban travel between districts in the state until Oct. 16. Malaysia now has a total of 11,484 cases, including 136 deaths. Noor Hisham said Malaysians need to follow health measures to flatten the curve again. The Southeast Asian nation lifted almost all restrictions in June after a three-month lockdown.
— Tens of millions of Chinese are traveling during the combined National Day and Mid-Autumn festival, amid continued masking and other safety requirements aimed at preventing any new virus outbreaks in a country that has seen no cases of local transmission in more than a month. Fewer trips are expected, however, out of concern restrictions could be reimposed if new outbreaks occurred. In Beijing, students and teachers were advised not to leave the city to ensure classes resume smoothly after the break. Partly to compensate, movie theaters and tourist attractions in the capital were being allowed to operate at 75% capacity. China has the world’s second-largest box office and movie-going is a major holiday activity.
— Singapore will allow entry to travelers from Vietnam and Australia, excluding its coronavirus hot spot Victoria state, from Oct. 8. The tiny city-state last month welcomed visitors from Brunei and New Zealand, and is cautiously reopening its borders after a virus closure to help revive its airport, a key regional aviation hub. The aviation authority has said there is a low risk of virus importation from the two countries. Travelers must undergo a virus swab test upon arrival, travel on direct flights without transit and download a mobile app for contact tracing. Singapore’s move is not reciprocated by the other four countries. But Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post Wednesday that “with each step of safe opening of our borders, we start to rebuild the bridges and resuscitate Changi Airport.” Singapore has managed to control the pandemic after an earlier upsurge due to infections among foreign workers living in packed dormitories. It has confirmed more than 57,000 cases of infection with 27 deaths from COVID-19.
— South Korea reported 77 new cases of coronavirus infections as officials called for vigilance around one of the biggest national holidays. The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency brought the national caseload to 23,889, including 415 deaths. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo has pleaded for people to stay home during the Chuseok harvest holiday that continues through the weekend, calling it a critical period may determine whether or not the country sees a major outbreak in autumn.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.