Staff workers check identities of relatives of a confirmed patient of COVID-19 in Hai Phong, Vietnam, on March 8, 2020. Vietnam's Ministry of Health on Sunday evening confirmed nine more new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 30, Vietnam News Agency reported. (VNA/Handout via Xinhua)
HONG KONG, March 8 -- Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Asia-Pacific region kept increasing as first three positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Bangladesh on Sunday.
Meerjady Sabrina Flora, head of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) under Bangladesh's Health Ministry, told Xinhua that "Two men and a woman of the same family were tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday."
She said two of the victims are Bangladeshi returnees from Italy while another one is their family member in Dhaka.
"Three people confirmed to have the virus are in isolation currently in a hospital in Dhaka," the IEDCR chief said, adding that they are all considered to be in stable condition.
The Maldives confirmed two positive cases for COVID-19 on Saturday, making it the first cases in the island country, local media quoting the Health Ministry said.
Tourism Minister Ali Waheed said that both cases were foreign nationals, who were employees of the Kuredu Island Resort, and the authorities had begun conducting "contact tracing."
South Korea confirmed 179 more cases on Sunday, raising the total number of infections to 7,313.
As of 4:00 p.m. local time, the number has reached 7,313, up 179 from the previous announcement as of midnight. Six more deaths were reported, lifting the death toll to 50.
Thirty-six patients were in critical conditions, raising a possibility for the fatality increase. The fatality rate stood at 0.7 percent, with the readings for those in their 70s and those in their 80s or higher gaining to 4.4 percent and 6.6 percent each.
Twelve more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, raising the combined number to 130.
Japan is stepping up efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 as the number of confirmed cases rose to 468 as of 6:00 p.m. (local time) Sunday, with the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido remaining in a state of emergency.
Among the confirmed cases, 454 people were infected domestically while 14 are returnees by chartered flights, according to data from public broadcaster NHK.
Meanwhile, 11 health ministry and quarantine officials have also been confirmed to be infected.
The tally is based on data compiled by the health ministry and local governments. Besides, there are also 696 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship moored in the port city of Yokohama.
Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Sunday that he expects the country's capability to test people for COVID-19 will top 7,000 a day by the end of march.
Six new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Malaysia on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to 99, said the country's Health Ministry.
All six of the new cases are part of a cluster of cases traced to the 26th patient and were identified through contact tracing, Malaysia's Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.
"With the addition of these 6 new cases, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has increased to 99 cases," he said.
Two patients are now in intensive care as they require respiratory aids and being given anti-viral treatments, he said, adding that another patient recovered and was discharged, brining the total cases of recovery to 24 in the country.
Australian health officials said on Sunday that a male patient in his 80s died, taking the total number of deaths in the country to three.
On the same day, two members of the Australian Defence Force have been isolated after being tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, said the statement of the Department of Defence.
The total number of infections in Australia increased to 74, with 38 in the worst-affected state of New South Wales.
Singapore reported twelve new COVID-19 cases, its Ministry of Health said Sunday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 150.
Nine of the 12 new cases were linked to a private dinner function in West Singapore on Feb. 15, pushing the related cases to 30. Some 600 people had joined in the dinner function.
One case is unlinked. Of the other two, one is related to a previous case and one is an imported case.
So far, a total of 90 patients have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital.
Of the 60 still hospitalized, most are in stable condition or improving. However, nine are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
One more person tested positive for COVID-19 in India on Sunday, taking the total to 40 in the country. The latest case was found in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, confirmed the state's Health Secretary Beela Rajesh.
According to her, a total of 60 samples were taken from passengers arriving at different airports in the state and sent for testing.
"The samples of 57 passengers are processed and 56 samples are negative, one sample positive for COVID-19 infection and 3 samples are under process," said a media bulletin released by the state's Health Department.
Earlier on Sunday, as many as five positive COVID-19 cases were detected in southern state of Kerala.
So far India has had 40 COVID-19 cases. The first three cases reported from Kerala were cured last month. The active 37 cases are being treated and said to be stable.
Vietnam's Ministry of Health on Sunday evening confirmed nine more new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 30, Vietnam News Agency reported.
The nine new confirmed cases, seven British, one Icelander and one Mexican, were on a same flight from London to Hanoi with an earlier confirmed female Vietnamese patient, according to the health ministry.
Vietnam has reported 14 new confirmed cases of the infection since Friday, while all of the 16 previously confirmed cases have been discharged from hospital. The country now has 101 suspected cases, according to its health ministry.
Indonesia on Sunday recorded two new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the cases to six, a health ministry official said in a press conference in the State Palace.
"The results of today's examination (of new patients suspected of having been infected with the novel coronavirus), showed that two are confirmed positive (for COVID-19)," said Achmad Yurianto, who is spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters.
Cambodia said on Saturday that a Cambodian man had been infected, becoming the first local person to contract the virus.
The new case involves a 38-year-old patient living in northwest Siem Reap province and who was among the first four persons who had direct contact with a Japanese patient.
The first COVID-19 patient in Pakistan has been discharged from a hospital in Karachi after being tested negative on Saturday, an official with health department said.
The patient came from Iran on Feb. 20 and was diagnosed with the disease at a private hospital in Karachi on Feb. 26.
With the first patient recovering, the number of the disease infected people fell to five in the country with three under treatment in Islamabad, apart from the two in Sindh.
