Malaysia is extending its nationwide pandemic lockdown by two weeks starting Tuesday until June 28 as the country's daily Covid-19 infections continue to exceed 5,000, health officials say.
Malaysia recorded 662,457 cases and 3,968 deaths Tuesday, data from Johns Hopkins University show - up from 565,533 cases and 2,729 deaths May 31, a day before the first phase of the lockdown took effect, The Star said.
In Indonesia, health authorities expect a new wave of infections to peak early July as the highly contagious Delta strain becomes more dominant. Jakarta's hospital occupancy rate reached 75% Monday, officials said.
Indonesia's cases climbed by 8,189 within one day to 1.92 million with deaths of 53,116. The government has extended its microscale restrictions which ended Monday for another 14 days to June 28 to prevent further spread, the Ministry of Health said.
In India, the country's top tourist attraction - the Taj Mahal - and other protected monuments will reopen Wednesday, the government said, two months after it was closed down as a rise in infections swept the country, The Indian Express reported.
"Considering the prevailing situation, it has been decided that all centrally protected monuments/sites and museums shall be opened June 16," the Express quoted the Culture and Tourism Ministry as saying in a statement.
Over in the Philippines, the country's vaccine official Carlito Galvez Jr. denied Tuesday the country - which has been using vaccines from China, Russia, the U.S. and UK - is trying to get more shots from Taiwan.
Taiwan news media earlier said an official from the Central Epidemic Command Center confirmed the Philippines "sent a letter to us" seeking to adopt the emergency utilization authority of locally produced vaccines.
Meanwhile, businesses and consumers in China are bracing for yet another shipping crisis as a virus outbreak in the southern part of the country disrupts port services and delays deliveries, according to CNBC.
South China's Guangdong Province reported two new local transmissions Monday, the provincial health commission said.
"The disruptions in Shenzhen and Guangzhou are absolutely massive. Alone, they would have an unprecedented supply chain impact," Brian Glick, founder and chief executive at supply chain integration platform Chain.io, told CNBC.
There are currently 176 million cases worldwide and the virus has claimed 3.81 million lives.
