A man wearing mask walks near the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 16, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)
-- Indonesia reports 3,891 new COVID-19 cases, 114 more deaths;
-- The Philippines reports 3,257 new cases;
-- New Zealand reports zero COVID-19 cases for 1st time in over a month;
-- COVID-19 cases rise to 5,214,677 in India, death toll reaches 84,372.
HONG KONG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries on Friday:
KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia reported 95 new COVID-19 cases, the health ministry said, bringing the national total to 10,147.
Of the remaining 754 active cases, 11 are being held in intensive care units and two of those are in need of assisted breathing.
One new death was reported, bringing the total tally to 129.
People wearing face masks perform a Hindu ritual prayer at a temple in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia, Sept. 16, 2020. (Photo by Rahmat Dwi/Xinhua)
JAKARTA, Sept. 18 -- The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 3,891 within one day to 236,519, with the death toll adding by 114 to 9,336, the health ministry said on Friday.
According to the ministry, 4,088 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 170,774.
People enjoy their leisure time by a lake at Lumpini Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)
BANGKOK -- Thailand, which had only witnessed one local COVID-19 transmission in 100 days reported the first fatality in 97 days.
A staff from Thailand's Ministry of Labour, who was found infected with COVID-19 after returning from Saudi Arabia, succumbed to death on Friday afternoon.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand increased to 3,497.
A woman wearing face mask and shield is seen in Manila, the Philippines, Sept. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 279,526 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,257 new daily cases.
Meanwhile, the Philippine government has ordered the closure of all private and public cemeteries, memorial parks and columbariums nationwide from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the observance of All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day.
The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 208,790 after it reported 733 more patients have survived the disease.
The DOH added that 47 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, bringing the death toll to 4,830.
Students wearing face masks head for a train station in Wellington, New Zealand, Aug. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)
WELLINGTON -- New Zealand reported no new cases of COVID-19, the first time since early August.
With no new cases to report and seven additional recovered cases, the total number of active cases in New Zealand is 70. Of those, 33 are imported cases in managed isolation facilities, and 37 are community cases, the statement said.
The country's total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 remains at 1,458.
Passengers maintain social distance inside a compartment of metro train in New Delhi, India, on Sept. 7, 2020. (Photo by Partha Sarkar/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India rose to 5,214,677 on Friday morning, India's health ministry said.
During the past 24 hours, 96,424 new cases and 1,174 deaths were reported from across the country. The death toll is now 84,372.
According to ministry officials, 4,112,551 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.
A mother and her child wearing face masks stand in line while waiting to get their health checked during a medical checkup and contact tracing campaign in Yangon, Myanmar, Sept. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/U Aung)
YANGON -- Myanmar reported 256 new cases of COVID-19 with one more death on Friday morning, according to a release from the Health and Sports Ministry.
The number of infection cases has reached 4,299 while the death toll stood at 61 in the country as of Friday morning.
People wearing face masks walk on a road near Deoksu Palace in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
SEOUL -- South Korea reported 126 more cases of the COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 22,783.
The daily caseload stayed below 200 for 16 straight days, but it continued to grow in triple digits since Aug. 14.
Five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 377. The total fatality rate stood at 1.65 percent.■
