Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has presented the pandemic modelling used by health officials and National Cabinet to determine how many Australians must be immunized to start to loosen restrictions and open the international border.
New South Wales must administer 6 million vaccinations by end of August if there is any hope of easing Greater Sydney's lockdown, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
In China, authorities in Wuhan said Tuesday they would test its entire population for the virus after the central Chinese city where Covid-19 emerged reported its first local cases in more than a year.
In Hong Kong, health officials will allow inoculated tourists from all but 10 places in the globe to enter the city starting August 9, a significant loosening of some of the strictest border restrictions in the world.
Immunized guests from nations considered "medium-risk," including the United States and Canada, will be able allowed to enter the city for the first time since the pandemic began.
In the Philippines, the government will extend a night curfew in the capital city of Manila in the face of a tightening of restrictions to contain a potential increase in cases of the Delta variant, officials said.
In Japan, the Tokyo metropolitan government reported 2,194 infections Monday, a record for the week, and the seventh straight day the number has topped the 2,000 mark.
The number of seriously ill patients in Tokyo was up by 13 from the previous day to 113. This number rose by 35 from a week ago.
In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo announced Monday the current restrictions enforced to contain the spread of the Delta variant will be extended until Aug 9.
Several cities, including the capital Jakarta, have been placed under Level 4 restrictions, which limits people's movements.
In Vietnam, the government has said it detected 3,562 new local cases Tuesday morning, including 1,997 in Ho Chi Minh City, increasing the current virus tally in the city to 100,556.
Vietnam has administered more than 6.94 million shots, fully inoculating 712,863 people with two jabs.
In Malaysia, the government confirmed 218 fatalities Monday, a daily record, placing the Southeast Asian nation's total figure since the pandemic broke out to 9,402 deaths.
The government also confirmed 15,763 new cases, bringing its total to 1,146,185.
In Singapore, health authorities on Monday reported 110 new infections, taking the country's total tally to 65,212. Officials also confirmed Singapore's 38th and youngest related death, a 34-year-old man from Ukraine.
Singapore now has 106 new local transmissions, of whom 25 are unlinked.
Worldwide, there are currently 199 million cases of the virus, with 4.24 million deaths.
