The disease that causes Covid-19 could have started spreading in China as early as October 2019, two months before the first infection was detected in Wuhan, a new study showed Friday.
Researchers from Britain's University of Kent estimate that SARS-CoV-2 first appeared from early October to mid-November 2019, based on a study published in the PLOS Pathogens journal, Reuters said.
Joint research by China and the World Health Organization in March acknowledged there could have been intermittent human infections before the Wuhan outbreak.
In Singapore, the government will expand its Covid-19 immunization campaign to all its people 12 years and older beginning early July.
Health officials said some permanent residents and long-term pass holders can start setting appointments July 2. Singapore has one of the fastest vaccine distributions in Asia Pacific, but lags many countries in the West.
As of Thursday, the southeast Asian nation has reported 62,492 Covid-19 cases and 35 deaths.
In India, health officials had administered more than 300 million vaccine doses by Thursday.
The country has started a monitoring system for new variants - with five hospitals and laboratories in each state sending samples for whole genome sequencing on a regular basis, the Hindustan Times said.
In the Philippines, deaths caused by the virus topped 24,000 Thursday as health authorities also announced more than 6,000 new cases.
The Philippines now has 24,036 deaths and is currently in the fourth month of its vaccination program in the face of delivery setbacks and supply shortages.
In Thailand, several hospitals in the Bangkok area have suspended doing PCR swab tests.
According to health officials, the reason is because if some tests are positive, there won't be beds for the patients. Other hospitals in the capital city have "scaled down" the swab tests because staff are inundated with work, doctors say.
Over in Hong Kong, officials have confirmed what could be its first community infection involving the more contagious Delta variant, ending a 16-day run of zero local cases.
Health authorities are now scrambling to identify the source and contain its spread, putting around 180 people into quarantine.
"We can see the threat from variants is increasing by the day, because their transmissibility is extremely high," Centre for Health Protection controller Dr. Ronald Lam Man-kin told the South China Morning Post.
In Indonesia, the government recorded its biggest daily increase in infections Thursday with 20,574, taking the country's tally to 2,053,995 cases, data from the country's health ministry show.
Indonesia is currently struggling with a surge of infections following last month's Eid al-Fitr holiday, according to Channel News Asia.
In Vietnam, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son suggested the country and South Korea strengthen cooperation in vaccine research and production during a meeting with his counterpart earlier this week.
South Korea is Vietnam's second largest trading partner. In May, South Korea reached an agreement with U.S. pharmaceutical companies Novavax and Moderna to produce Covid-19 vaccines in the country.
Worldwide there are 180 million Covid-19 cases. Some 3.9 million people have died.
