AsiaPacific countries on high alert as confirmed COVID19 cases surge in South, Southeast Asia

HONG KONG The spread of the coronavirus has been accelerating in South and Southeast Asia on Tuesday as India reported over 100,000 infections in the past four days. The total number of COVID19 cases in India surpassed the 900,000mark on Tuesday, according to the latest data issued by the federal health ministry. The ministry announced 553 new deaths and another 28,498 cases during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 23,727 and total cases to 906,752. Bangladesh reported 3,163 new cases, taking the total to 190,057, with over half of the patients having recovered. Nasima Sultana, a senior Health Ministry official, said in a briefing in Dhaka that 33 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh, bringing the death toll to 2,424. In the Philippines, the number of positive cases surged to 57,545 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 634 new infections on Tuesday. The DOH said the number of recoveries rose to 20,459 after 88 more patients survived the disease. The death toll also increased to 1,603 after six more patients died, the DOH said. The confirmed cases in Indonesia rose by 1,591 within one day to 78,572, with the death toll adding by 54 to 3,710, a Health Ministry official said on Tuesday. According to Achmad Yurianto, 947 more people had been discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 37,636. In Japan’s capital city Tokyo, the metropolitan government confirmed 143 new infections, with the number staying below the 200mark for the second straight day but spiking above the 119 cases detected a day earlier.

( Xinhua )