COUNTRY RECORDS FIRST COVID-19 DEATH

The Southeast Asian country of Laos recorded its first death from the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday, losing its place among the few countries yet to suffer a fatality, state media said.

The victim was a 53-yearold Vietnamese woman who had underlying medical problems, including diabetes, and who worked at a karaoke club in a village outside the capital Vientiane, the state-run Vientiane Times website quoted the national COVID-19 task force as saying.

Infections have rocketed in the country of seven million since last month, when the worst surges also began in neighbouring Thailand and Cambodia.

Laos has still identified only 1,302 infections since the pandemic began.