China reports just one new locally transmitted coronavirus case

China reported 21 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday along with 13 new deaths caused by the illness Covid-19, the country’s National Health Commission said.

All but one of the new confirmed cases were brought into the country by citizens returning from abroad, marking a new low for locally transmitted virus cases in China since reporting started.

The single new case that was locally transmitted in the most recent figures was in Hubei province, where the outbreak first began in December.

Imported cases surpassed domestic ones in China for the first time on Sunday, according to figures from the commission.

A total of 3,226 people died of Covid-19 in China and the coronavirus infected 80,881 people, of whom 68,679 have recovered.

As the respiratory disease continues to spread globally especially in Europe, official figures from Chinese health authorities point to the containment of the virus within its source country.

Taiwan is also trying to prevent imported cases from generating a new spike in infections. On Tuesday authorities reported 10 new imported cases of the Covid-19 caused by the new coronavirus, all of which are linked to recent overseas travel.

In South Korea, the number of new coronavirus infections saw a slight uptick in figures released on Tuesday, with 84 new cases recorded the previous day.

The data followed several days of a downward trend in new infections.

Authorities cited a new rise in cases in the city of Seongnam, south of Seoul, as a reason for the increase.

This brings the total of people who have tested positive for the virus in the country to 8,320, the figures from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

There have been 81 deaths from the Covid-19 disease in South Korea.

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In Australia, former prime minister Julia Gillard was in self-isolation after close contact with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau in London, wife of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, just a week before she tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokeswoman for Gillard said.

Gillard has been doing as a precautionary measure only and not been tested, the spokeswoman told dpa.

Meanwhile, Hollywood actor Tom Hanks was released from a Gold Coast hospital on Tuesday after being quarantined with the coronavirus, though his wife Rita Wilson continues to remain in isolation for the time being, according to Australian broadcaster ABC.

New Zealand has unveiled a coronavirus rescue package to quell economic fears and financial hardship.

At 12.1 billion New Zealand dollars (7.36 billion dollars), the package is worth 4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, the government said in a statement.

“The government is pulling out all the stops to protect the health of New Zealanders and the health of our economy,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

New Zealand currently has 11 confirmed Covid-19 cases and no deaths.

India’s iconic Taj Mahal has shut down amid coronavirus fears, the government said.

Tourism ministry officials said tens of thousands of people visit the “monument to love” daily and it was crucial to close the site temporarily.

The stunning white marble edifice located in the northern city of Agra is India’s top tourist attraction and draws an estimated 7-8 million visitors annually.

At least 143 Indian monuments, as well as museums across India, were directed to shut down till March 31, Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Nanu Bhasin said.

India on Tuesday recorded its third death due to the coronavirus.

Cambodia’s Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country doubled since the previous day from 12 to 24.

Eleven of the 12 people who tested positive were among 79 Cambodian Muslims who recently attended an Islamic gathering in Malaysia, local news outlet VOD reported, citing the ministry. The other Cambodian who tested positive had recently travelled to Thailand.

Malaysia’s Health Ministry said about half of the estimated 15-16,000 crowd at the gathering have been screened.

Kuala Lumpur confirmed the country’s first death from Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

Local authorities in Sarawak on the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo said that a 60-year-old Baptist pastor died in hospital in Kuching, the regional capital.

Some 193 close contacts of the deceased have been put under home quarantine, the Sarawak State Secretariat Disaster Committee stated, though the source of the dead man’s infection is unknown. Malaysian infections jumped by 120 for a total of 673.

Pakistan’s Covid-19 infections have spiked, with more than 130 new cases appearing in one day, a health ministry official told dpa.

The majority of patients stem from Taftan, a border town, where hundreds of Pakistanis were quarantined after returning from Iran, which has the highest number of cases and deaths behind China and Italy.

(DPA)