Indonesia reports 5,937 new COVID-19 cases, Cambodia to begin vaccination drive with China's Sinovac vaccine

HONG KONG, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia on Wednesday rose by 5,937 within one day to 1,511,712, with the death toll adding by 104 to 40,858, the Health Ministry said.

Cambodia will begin to inoculate its citizens with the Sinovac vaccines from April 1 onwards, the country's Ad-hoc Committee for COVID-19 Vaccination said in a statement.

The country confirmed another 63 local cases linked to the February 20 community transmission, bringing the total to 1,914 so far.

India's tally rose to 12,149,335 as 53,480 new cases were reported from across the country, according to the latest figures released by the federal health ministry. Besides, 354 deaths had also been reported since Tuesday morning, taking the death toll to 162,468.

Authorities at Delhi airport began random testing of arriving passengers, officials said, and passengers found COVID-19 positive at arrival "shall be mandatorily quarantined."

India's federal government said there was no shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in the country, pledging to continuously replenish supplies to the states.

The Australian government has administered a little more than 670,000 vaccines, 16.7 percent of its target number in March since the rollout began in February. The government initially promised that 4 million people would receive COVID-19 vaccines by the end of March.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 6,128 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 747,288. The death toll climbed to 13,297 after 106 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 450-million-U.S. dollar loan to Indonesia to help Bio Farma, a state-owned vaccine supplier, procure and deliver safe and effective vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Manila-based bank said.

Thailand confirmed 42 cases of coronavirus infection, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Of the new cases, 24 were domestic infections and 18 others referred to imported cases, CCSA spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangsan said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has demanded a total of 40,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for some 20,000 aviation personnel.

Tokyo reported 414 new daily COVID-19 cases, bringing the capital's tally since the outbreak of the pandemic here to 129,860.

The latest figure compares to 364 cases reported the previous day, with the jump in daily infections coming just more than a week since a COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted for the greater Tokyo area.

New Zealand reported two new border-related cases in managed isolation and no new community cases, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

South Korea reported 506 more cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 103,088. The daily caseload was up from 447 the previous day, rising above 500 in four days.