People walk along the promenade outside Singapore's Marina Bay Sands on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua)
-- Singapore reports 65 new cases, to close most workplaces, schools
-- Japan to give 2,800 USD to each household hurt by COVID-19 outbreak
-- Malaysia's death toll rises to 53
-- Philippines reports 385 more cases
HONG KONG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries.
SINGAPORE -- Singapore will close most workplaces and schools will move to full home-based learning, amid stricter measures to minimise the COVID-19 spread, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong here Friday.
From next Tuesday, Singapore will close most workplaces, except for essential services like food establishments, markets and supermarkets, clinics, hospitals, utilities, transport and key banking services, he announced.
Key economic sectors will also remain open, such as those that form part of a global supply chain. People working in these industries can continue to go to work, with safe-distancing measures in place.
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported Friday 65 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the city state to 1,114. Earlier in the day, Singapore confirmed the fifth COVID-19 death, which involved a 86-year-old Singaporean woman.
Visitors are seen in the crowd in Asakusa in Tokyo, Japan, March 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday agreed to give 300,000 yen (2,800 U.S. dollars) in cash to each household whose income has fallen to a certain level owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The amount initially floated by the government was a cash handout of 200,000 yen to each household, but was increased by 100,000 yen with Abe agreeing that households required more substantial support amid such trying times.
A biker passes by a electronic screen showing "Stay Home Stay Safe" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)
KUALA LUMPUR -- A total of 53 people have died of the COVID-19 in Malaysia with 217 newly confirmed cases, bringing the total to 3,333, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
It is the first time that Malaysia recorded more than 200 cases two days in a row. Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that the increase of daily new cases is "expected," partly due to the "active case detection" strategy, especially in the high-risk areas.
Construction workers wearing face masks assemble partition walls as they convert the Rizal Memorial Coliseum into a quarantine spot to contain the spread of novel coronavirus in Manila, the Philippines on April 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA -- Another 385 COVID-19 cases were recorded in the Philippines on Friday, bringing the total number to 3,018, while the country eyes mass testing of persons suspected of having COVID-19 from April 14.
The Department of Health on Friday said 136 patients have died from the highly infectious viral disease and 52 have recovered. "The sudden spike of deaths is attributed to the late reporting of previous deaths," the department added.
Indonesian police officers stand guard behind road barrier at Asia Africa street in Bandung, Indonesia on April 2, 2020. (Photo by Septianjar/Xinhua)
JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government said on Friday that the death toll of the COVID-19 in the country climbed to 181 and the number of confirmed cases jumped to 1,986.
At a press conference, the government's spokesperson for COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, said there are also as many as 181 patients who have recovered from the disease.
People line up at a supermarket to check out in Bangkok, Thailand, March 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)
BANGKOK -- Thailand's Ministry of Public Health on Friday reported 103 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 1,978, with four new deaths, raising the death toll to 19.
Out of all the patients, 581 cases have recovered and were discharged from hospitals.
All hotels in Pattaya and elsewhere throughout Chonburi province in eastern Thailand have been ordered to temporarily close in a sustained effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thailand's popular resort island of Phuket will close all its hotel services from Saturday until further notice.
Soldiers monitor distancing of people in queue for buying essentials as part of efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 2, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)
DHAKA -- Five more people have been tested positive for the COVID-19 in Bangladesh, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 61 on Friday.
A food delivery man rides on the street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Tang Lu)
COLOMBO -- Sri Lankan Police on Friday said over 10,000 people had been arrested from across the country for violating an islandwide curfew which has been in place since March 20.
Staff transport the aid materials from China at the airport in Male, the Maldives, March 27, 2020. (Photo by Li Xiang/Xinhua)
MALE -- The Maldives Police Force has issued warnings to 95 individuals who violated a curfew imposed by the Heath Protection Authority (HPA) as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported here Friday.
Maldives announced a partial curfew applicable to Greater Male between local time 5 pm and 8 pm that came into effect on Thursday. Maldives Police said that 83 citizens and 13 foreigners were apprehended for violating curfew on the first day.
A member of staff puts a mark on the floor that reminds people of social distancing at a supermarket in Canberra, Australia, April 1, 2020. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
SYDNEY -- Despite case rates are stabilizing in the badly hit state of New South Wales (NSW) on Friday, other states in Australia went ahead with tighter border restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19.
For the first time in history, the largest state of Western Australia (WA) closed its borders to the rest of the country, taking effect from midnight on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the northeastern state of Queensland also tightened border restrictions with its neighbor below, NSW, denying entry to anyone without a valid reason.
An old man with a mask is seen outside his store at a road during the nationwide lockdown in Kolkata, India, March 31, 2020. (Stringer/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI -- India's federal health ministry on Friday morning said the death toll of COVID-19 rose to 56 and the total number of confirmed cases reached 2,301.
On Thursday evening the number was 2,069 and the death toll was 53.
People select laptops at a electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, on March 31, 2020. (NEWSIS/Handout via Xinhua)
SEOUL -- South Korea's reported cases of the COVID-19 topped 10,000 as of midnight Friday local time as 86 more cases were confirmed for the past 24 hours.
The number of infections totaled 10,062, and five more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 174. ■
