A worker sprays disinfectant at a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 7, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)
-- Bangladesh's daily cases top 1,000 for first time;
-- 285 new positive cases confirmed in Afghanistan;
-- South Korea to delay offline school classes for 1 more week on worry about club cluster infection;
-- New Zealand to relax COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday.
HONG KONG, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries.
DHAKA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh on Monday rose by more than 1,000 in one day for the first time since March 8, signaling the country's alarmingly-moving curve.
Nasima Sultana, a senior Health Ministry official, told an online media briefing in Dhaka that 1,034 new COVID-19 positive cases and 11 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.
A woman watches a televised speech by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 10, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)
KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia reported 70 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the national total to 6,726, the Health Ministry said.
A firefighter sprays disinfectant in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh province, Afghanistan, May 3, 2020. (Photo by Kawa Basharat/Xinhua)
KABUL -- Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry has registered 285 new COVID-19 positive cases over the past 24 hours, raising the number of patients infected with the virus to 4,687 in the country, deputy to the spokesman for the ministry Tawhid Shakohmand said Monday.
Photo taken on March 18, 2020 shows Qantas check-in machines at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
CANBERRA -- Australia's opposition Leader has called for an overhaul of the nation's economy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Anthony Albanese, the leader of the Labor Party, on Monday delivered a wide-ranging economic "vision statement" ahead of Parliament resuming on Tuesday.
A medical worker sprays disinfectant to his partner before performing a rapid test amid the COVID-19 outbreak at a drive-thru site in Cisauk, Tangerang, Indonesia, May 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Agung Kuncahya B.)
JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government on Monday announced 233 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the archipelagic country to 14,265.
A social distancing marker is seen inside a train at the Light Rail Transit Line-2 (LRT-2) depot in Quezon City, the Philippines, on May 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA -- The Philippines' daily tally of new COVID-19 infections rose by 292 on Monday, increasing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 11,086, said the Philippine Department of Health (DOH).
Police officers spray disinfectant to sanitize an underpass in the Borella area of Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 10, 2020. (Photo by A.hpuarachchi/Xinhua)
COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka's capital Colombo resumed economic activities on Monday after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that public and private sector employees could re-start work after over a month since a curfew was declared on March 20 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka is on the right track to contain the COVID-19 epidemic through increased tracking, testing, isolation, and treatment strategy, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Monday.
Vehicles run on a road in Wellington, New Zealand, May 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)
WELLINGTON -- New Zealand will move to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 on Thursday and reopen most businesses in 10 days, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday.
Ardern told a press conference that the country was ready to move into Level 2, "to open up the economy, but to do it as safely as possible."
People take selfies at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, May 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
SEOUL -- South Korea decided Monday to delay offline school classes for one more week on rising worry about a cluster infection from clubs at a multicultural neighborhood of Itaewon in the capital Seoul.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the cluster infection from clubs and bars at a multicultural neighborhood of Itaewon in the South Korean capital Seoul rose to 86 as of midday Monday local time.
The country reported 35 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 a.m. Monday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,909.
After hitting the bottom at two on May 6, the daily caseload continued to grow from 12 on Friday to 18 on Saturday and 34 on Sunday each.
A woman cooks food at a community kitchen for poor people during the nationwide lockdown in Kolkata, India on May 8, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI -- India's federal health ministry Monday morning said 97 new deaths due to COVID-19, besides fresh 4,213 positive cases, were reported since Sunday in the country, taking the number of deaths to 2,206 and total cases to 67,152.
According to officials, so far 20,917 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.
"The number of active cases in the country right now is 44,029," reads the information.
Surfers walk at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on April 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
SYDNEY -- Specialized rapid response teams will handle outbreaks of COVID-19 as they appear in the Australian state of Victoria, officials announced on Monday.
Outbreak squads, staffed by public health specialists and clinicians will ensure appropriate testing, contact tracing and deep cleaning is carried out in order to contain outbreaks as Aussies venture out of lockdown.■
