Sources: Nippon.com
The Japanese government announces that the quasi-state of emergency measures will be expanded to 18 more prefectures including Hokkaido, Osaka, and Fukuoka from January 27 to February 20 amid the spread of the Omicron variant. 2022-01-25
France reports a new strain of SARS-CoV-2, known as lineage B.1.X or B.1.640, which was first found on 15 October in a school in Bannalec in the north-western region of Brittany, where 24 people got infected; but it was only identified to be a separate strain until much later. The origin of the Bannalec outbreak seemed to be a man in Nantes who had come from abroad a few days before. No cases related to the strain were reported since October 26, but it remains under surveillance. ([https:--www.jpost.com-health-and-wellness-coronavirus-new-covid-variant-found-in-france-reason-for-panic-or-not-quite-yet-684878 "Jerusalem Post"])2021-11-11
India begins the use of commercial drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to remote areas of the country in order to increase the country's vaccination rate. 2021-10-7
Iran reports 22,586 cases, a record for the third consecutive day. In the process, the country has surpassed two million cases of COVID-19. 2021-04-8
Ireland introduces a mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers from 33 high-risk countries, mostly in South America and Africa. Travellers from these countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days at a government-designated facility. 2021-03-26
Prime Minister Mark Rutte issues a statement that would ask the parliament to vote regarding a weekend curfew from 8.30 p.m. to 4.30 a.m. in a parliamentary debate that will begin tomorrow. 2021-01-20
Governor Jim Justice becomes one of the first elected officials to receive the vaccine. 2020-12-14
Japan records a new single-day record of 3,041 cases. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are deployed to Asahikawa, Hokkaido, where hospitals are facing shortages of medical staff to treat COVID-19 patients. 2020-12-12
In response to the surge of new cases, the Czech government announces that it will close non-essential shops and limit the people's movement to essential reasons only in new lockdown measures effective between tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. and November 3 at 11:59 p.m. local time. 2020-10-21