Photo taken on March 31, 2020 shows a scene of a makeshift COVID-19 rapid test station in Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi. (Xinhua/VNA)
-- Japan records 2,235 cases, with rising cases in urban areas;
-- Number of cases surpasses 2,000 in Pakistan;
-- Australia confirms 4,860 cases;
-- Vietnam declares nationwide epidemic.
HONG KONG, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries.
TOKYO -- Japan's health ministry and local governments said that 2,235 people had been infected with the COVID-19 virus in Japan as of 11:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with rising cases in urban areas prompting local authorities to request residents to restrict their movements.
Pedestrians wearing masks walk in the street at Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, on March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
ISLAMABAD -- The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan rose to 2,039, with 26 deaths reported across the country, according to the newest data released on the website of the Health Ministry on Wednesday.
A policeman wearing a face mask stands outside a train compartment converted into a quarantine ward at a railway station in Rawalpindi of eastern Pakistan's Punjab province on March 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)
CANBERRA -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia is on the brink of surpassing 5,000, as the total number of cases has grown to 4,860, according to Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly on Wednesday afternoon.
A swing facility is closed in Sydney, Australia, on March 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
NEW DELHI -- A government-run hospital in Indian capital city was shut down on Wednesday after a doctor tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), local media reports said.
Women with masks are seen at a road during the nationwide lockdown in Kolkata, India, March 31, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)
KABUL -- A total of 22 more positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Afghanistan, bringing the number of the patients to 196, Public Health Ministry's spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said Wednesday.
An Afghan man makes masks to donate for local residents in Kandahar city, Afghanistan, March 19, 2020. (Photo by Arghand/Xinhua)
VIENTIANE -- The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved 60 million U.S. dollars in financing for Laos to strengthen the country's financial safety net and civil registration system.
Venders wearing face masks wait for customers along the street in Vientiane, Laos, March 23, 2020. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)
DHAKA -- Bangladesh reported the sixth death from COVID-19 on Wednesday. Three more cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 54, according to Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
Buses park in a depot in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 29, 2020, as the government declares a 10-day shut down to battle the spread of COVID-19. (Str/Xinhua)
SEOUL -- South Korea reported 101 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Wednesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 9,887.
Three more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 165. The total fatality rate stood at 1.67 percent.
A total of 159 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 5,567.
A tourist views the closed Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
SYDNEY -- Backpackers have been blamed for transforming Australia's world famous Bondi Beach into a COVID-19 "hotspot", with travellers unwilling or unable to properly socially isolate leading to a high concentration of cases in the area.
On Wednesday, a temporary COVID-19 testing station was established at the iconic Bondi Beach pavilion, just meters from the sand -- with doctors in the area told to ramp up testing of those with symptoms, regardless of their travel history.
Photo taken on March 31, 2020 shows local residents waiting to take a rapid COVID-19 test at a makeshift testing station in Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi.(Xinhua/VNA)
HANOI -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed a decree on Wednesday to declare COVID-19 a nationwide epidemic in Vietnam, according to the government website.
Vietnam's Ministry of Health said five more local citizens had tested positive for COVID-19, sending the total confirmed cases in the country to 212.
The five cases include three people recently returning from Russia, the United States and Thailand, and two people related to Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital, which is in connection with a number of confirmed cases.
A vendor wearing mask is seen in front of the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Mao Pengfei)
PHNOM PENH -- The Cambodian government has approved a draft law on state of emergency amid the spread of COVID-19, according to a statement released late Tuesday.
The draft bill was approved on Tuesday during a permanent cabinet members meeting chaired by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the statement said.
Two more COVID-19 patients in Cambodia have recovered, bringing the total number of patients cured in the kingdom to 25, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) on Wednesday. ■