Promising trend: Asian Pacific nations report reduction in new daily coronavirus cases

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Several Asian Pacific Region nations, including China, reported significant reductions in new daily coronavirus cases on Tuesday. In South Korea, only 27 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours, increasing the total case count to 10,564. Five people died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 222, the National Disease Control and Prevention Center reported. At the same time, 87 patients who recovered were released from hospitals, putting the total number of recoveries at 7,534. According to the Center, daily incidence count has been hovering below 50 cases for nine days already. By comparison, during the epidemic’s peak in late February, this number exceeded 900. Nevertheless, South Korean healthcare agencies remain on heightened alert, the Center reports. In Thailand, only 34 new cases were identified. According to the kingdom’s Health Ministry, the total nationwide case count reached 2,613. In the past 24 hours, just one person died. The total number of casualties in the kingdom is now 41. In the meantime, 1,405 people - more than a half of all registered cases - have recovered. On March 22, Thailand reported its highest daily case increase of 188 people. Starting on April 3, Thailand introduced a curfew, active between 22:00 and 04:00. Violators are punished with up to 2 years in prison or approximately $1,200 fine. New Zealand’s Health Ministry also reported 9 new confirmed cases, adding that this is the lowest case growth in the last 30 days. According to the ministry, its stats show a total of 1,358 people has contracted the disease, while 628 people have recovered, 82 of them - in the past 24 hours. Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s chief public health official, says that 48% of all cases in the country happened due to contacts with infected people, while only 2% have randomly come down with the disease out in public. Foreign trips contributed to 39% of the recorded infections, and the remaining 11% are still being analyzed by experts. On Tuesday, Peeni Henare, Minister for Civil Defense, extended the national emergency regime, introduced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on March 24. The new rules introduced harsh restrictions on freedom of movement and any activity, with the exception of buying bare living essentials. The use of personal transport is prohibited altogether, while private trips across the country are considered undesirable. In addition, China recorded only 89 new cases - which is 19 less than one day ago - and no fatalities. According to the National Health Commission, most infected - 86 - have come from abroad. The Commission reported that a total of 82,249 people had contracted the coronavirus illness in China, 1,464 of them imported from abroad. Over the past 24 hours, 559 people have recovered, bringing the total recovery count in China to 77,738. There are still 1,170 people receiving treatment in hospitals, 116 of them in serious condition. No new cases were registered in the Hubei province, the initial epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, over the past 24 hours. According to Chinese authorities, 54 coronavirus cases without symptoms were registered in the past 24 hours. Slightly over 1,000 people without symptoms, who tested positive, remain under medical observation. The novel coronavirus outbreak was registered in late 2019 in China. Later, it spread to most nations of the world, including Russia. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic. Read more