The human biosecurity emergency also suspends regular international flights and cruise ships, and protects the sale and supply of some essential goods.

In July, the government set a cap of 4,000 weekly arrivals to the country and states began charging people for compulsory two-week hotel quarantine.

Australia’s national coronavirus death toll stands at 737, according to figures released on Friday. The last tally on total infections reported by the national health department was 26,049.

Neighbouring New Zealand recorded its first coronavirus death in more than three months on Friday when a man in his 50s succumbed to the virus.

Health officials said the man was part of a second-wave cluster of infections that emerged in Auckland last month, ending a spell of 102 days free of community transmission in the South Pacific nation.

South Korea extends social distancing restrictions

South Korea extended its ongoing national social distancing restrictions by two weeks even as daily cases stayed below 200 for two straight days.

New infections hit 198 on Friday, raising the total caseload to 20,842, said the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Authorities want to rein in daily new cases to about 100 so they can ensure quarantine workers are not overstretched. But the growing number of unlinked cases and emergence of new infection clusters are complicating matters.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the government was well aware of the disruptions caused to small businesses and regular people, but “we have to pull in the reins harder at this time to avoid greater pain”.

“We have to pull out all the stops until we successfully turn the tide rather than prematurely ease distancing and create a larger disaster,” he said, noting cluster infections have been taking place in key places such as a kimchi factory and large hospitals in Seoul.

South Korea, which initially succeeded in putting the virus under control for more than five months, has seen spikes in cases at churches, hospitals, gyms, nursing homes, factories, cafes and other workplaces since mid-August.

South Korea’s outbreak eases but kimchi factory identified as new cluster

Currently, under Level 2 restrictions in place across the country, indoor meetings of more than 50 people and outdoor gatherings of over 100 people have been banned and high-risk facilities, including karaoke rooms, clubs, PC cafes and buffets, have been shut down.

Seoul is subject to tighter controls, with restricted business hours for restaurants and coffee chains only allowed to offer takeaways. These have been extended for a week.

Chung said he was concerned that complacency was setting in, especially among young people and called for them to wear masks and practise good hygiene.

Meanwhile, thousands of junior doctors on Friday reportedly ended their two-week-old strike in protest against the government’s medical reform scheme after an agreement was reached with the government and the ruling Democratic Party.

Thailand records first local case in 100 days

A prison inmate in Thailand has tested positive for the coronavirus in the country’s first confirmed locally transmitted case in 100 days.

Health officials identified the inmate as a 37-year-old man arrested for drug abuse who was brought to prison in Bangkok on August 26 and tested positive on Wednesday at the prison’s health centre.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday had congratulated the nation for having achieved 100 days without any confirmed local cases of the coronavirus. The last person to test positive was on May 24.

Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director general of the Health Ministry’s Disease Control Department, said the infected man had been kept in a small group of quarantined inmates in a standard procedure to limit the possible spread of the virus. In another routine procedure, he was tested as part of a group of 34 new inmates. He had only a mild possible symptom, excessive mucous. The infected man lived in Bangkok and worked as a DJ in several bars.

After Covid-19, will Bangkok ever bounce back?

Thailand has sustained relatively light health damage from the pandemic, even though in January it was the first country outside China to confirm a case. But its economy has been devastated by the absence of foreign tourists, who are banned from entry, and by a drop in exports.

The country finds itself in a position similar to that of New Zealand, which had a 102-day streak without local transmissions, and Vietnam, which had 99 days.

Both countries learned that keeping the virus at bay is not the same as defeating it, and when new cases sprang up they were forced to reinstate socially restrictive measures, including lockdowns in affected urban areas.

Thai officials in recent weeks have suggested various plans to allow the entry of visitors from abroad to revive the tourist industry, a major employer and revenue earner.

Reporting by Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters