Afghans ride bicycles during a cycling event in Shiberghan city of Jawzjan province, Afghanistan, May 31, 2020. (Photo by Mohammad Jan Aria/Xinhua)
-- COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surge to 58,850 with 1,392 new cases;
-- Bangladesh reports 3,533 new cases of COVID-19, 193,590 in total;
-- Japan's capital reports 165 new COVID-19 cases, raises warning to highest level;
-- India records highest daily spike of 29,429 new infections, 936,181 in total
HONG KONG, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Asia-Pacific countries on Wednesday:
KABUL -- Afghanistan reported 254 new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 34,994 cases, the country's Ministry of Public Health confirmed.
A total of 32 COVID-19 patients succumbed to the virus, taking the number of people who lost their lives to 1,094 since the outbreak of the pandemic in February.
The number of people recovered stands at 22,456 after 1,002 patients recovered during the period.
An employee holds a sheet of newly-launched special stamps honoring the COVID-19 frontliners at the Philippine Postal Corporation in Manila, the Philippines on July 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 58,850 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,392 new cases.
The DOH said that the number of recoveries further rose to 20,976 after 517 more patients have survived the disease.
The death toll also increased to 1,614 after 11 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH said.
Aerial photo taken on Sept. 1, 2019 shows the panoramic view of Male, capital of Maldives. (Photo by Wang Mingliang/Xinhua)
MALE -- A Qatar Airways flight carrying 107 foreigners and 27 Maldivians arrived at the Velana International Airport in the Maldives, marking the first arrival of tourists since the country closed its borders on March 27 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a 28-page guideline published by the Ministry of Tourism, incoming tourists will be allowed to stay at facilities located on uninhabited islands starting July 15. Facilities on inhabited islands are scheduled to be re-opened on August 1.
Staff clean up the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 16, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)
DHAKA -- Bangladesh reported over 3,500 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total in the country to over 193,000.
Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing that "3,533 new COVID-19 positive cases and 33 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."
"The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 193,590 while fatalities stood at 2,457," she said, adding the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.27 percent.
People wearing face masks walk on the street in Tokyo, Japan, on July 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
TOKYO -- Japan's Tokyo metropolitan government raised its warning level for the spread of the COVID-19 from three to its highest level of four, stating that the virus continues to be spreading.
Tokyo confirmed 165 new cases of coronavirus infections, remaining below 200 for the third straight day, although the number of daily cases has topped 100 since July 2, with the latest daily infection tally marking the seventh straight day of three digit cases.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said the current situation is quite grave.
Tokyo has witnessed a rise in group infections at downtown nighttime entertainment establishments and other clusters of infections at a theater, welfare centers as well as nurseries.
A teacher wears face mask for an elementary school student in class on the first day of school in 2020-2021 academic year amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Pesisir Selatan region, West Sumatra, Indonesia, July 13, 2020. (Photo by Andri Mardiansyah/Xinhua)
JAKARTA -- The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 1,522 within one day to 80,094, with the death toll adding by 87 to 3,797, Achmad Yurianto, a Health Ministry official, said at a press conference.
According to the official, 1,414 more people had been discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 39,050.
People take selfies at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, May 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
SEOUL -- South Korea reported 39 more cases of COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 13,551.
The daily caseload stayed below 40 for two straight days due to the continued small cluster infections and imported cases.
No more death was confirmed, leaving the death toll at 289. The total fatality rate stood at 2.13 percent.
A health worker takes a sample from a man in Patna, capital of India's eastern state of Bihar, on July 14, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI -- India's health ministry reported 582 new deaths and 29,429 more COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 24,309 and total cases to 936,181.
It is the highest single-day spike in the number of fresh cases in the country so far.■
