Pedestrians walk as some of them wear masks in downtown Tehran, Iran, Feb 27, 2020. (VAHID SALEMI / AP)

SINGAPORE / DUBAI / SEOUL / CARIO / SYDNEY / TOKYO - Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak, which has hit the Islamic Republic hard, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Thursday. 

The move came as Iran reported 75 new deaths on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 429 in the worst-hit country in the Middle East.

The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, "has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately", Zarif said. 

Iran's Central Bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote on his Instagram page that "in a letter addressed to the head of IMF, I have requested five billion US dollar from the RFI emergency fund to help our fight against the coronavirus".

Duterte announces 'lockdown' of Manila

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday announced a halt on domestic land, sea and air travel to and from Manila, as well as community quarantine measures, in what he called a “lockdown” of the capital to arrest the spread of coronavirus.

Duterte approved a resolution to allow a raft of containment measures including bans on mass gatherings, a month of school closures and quarantining in communities where cases are detected, as well as stopping domestic travel in and out of Manila.

It follows confirmation on Saturday of the Philippines’ first domestic transmission of the virus, which has killed two people there and infected 53.

Duterte will undergo testing for the COVID-19 disease while he does not have symptoms, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go said on Thursday.

Two members of Duterte's cabinet - Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade - will undergo self-quarantine after having been exposed to individuals who tested positive for COVID-19.

A boy places his face in front of a sprinkler for disinfectants outside a public market in Manila, Philippines on March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AAEON FAVILA / AP PHOTO)

India suspends most visas, closes border with Myanmar

The Indian government has suspended all tourist visas amid COVID-19 scare.

"All existing visas except diplomatic, official, UN/International organizations, employment, project visas -- will be suspended till April 15. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13, 2020 at the port of departure," said in a statement released by the Indian government on Wednesday. 

"Any foreign national who intends to travel to India for compelling reason may contact the nearest Indian mission."

India has also closed a border with neighboring Myanmar to counter the outbreak, as countries across South Asia reported a rise in cases. No cases have so far been confirmed in Myanmar.

The number of COVID-19 cases in India rose to 73 Thursday, up from 60 in the previous day, India's federal health ministry said.

Authorities across India have sounded an alert and urged people to avoid unnecessary foreign travel and mass gatherings.

Australia injects US$11.4-b stimulus 

Australia’s government said on Thursday it would pump A$17.6 billion (US$11.4 billion) into the economy to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from pushing the country into its first recession in nearly 30 years.

The package will subsidize the wages of 120,000 apprentices, offer one-off cash payments for welfare recipients and deliver payments of up to A$25,000 (US$16,160) for small businesses, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a news conference in Canberra.

The government said it would extend by a week existing travel bans on China, Iran, South Korea and Italy, while an emergency health committee would review whether to place a travel ban on all of Europe.

Also on Thursday, the country' s capital Canberra reported its first COVID-19 case. The man is in his 30s and had not been overseas in the past a couple of weeks.

Indian policemen wear masks and stand outside isolation wards set up for possible COVID-19 patients in Jammu, India, March 11, 2020. (CHANNI ANAND AP)

South Korea tightens border controls, tally passes 7800  

South Korea reported 114 new cases of the coronavirus, as well as six more deaths from the illness, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The new cases bring the country’s total to 7,869, with 66 deaths, as health officials seek to track down and contain a number of new clusters of infections, including at a call center in the capital city of Seoul.

South Korea said it will impose tighter immigration procedures on more European countries amid the soaring cases of the COVID-19 across Europe in recent days.

All travelers arriving from Britain, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands will be subject to special immigration procedures beginning midnight March 15 local time, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

Cambodia confirms 2 more COVID-19 cases aboard Viking Cruise

Cambodia's Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that two more British passengers aboard the cruise boat Viking Cruise Journey tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections on the ship to three.

In a press statement, the Ministry of Health said authorities took the samples of the remaining 59 passengers and crew for tests at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Japan lower house passes emergency bill, Iran toll jumps

BOJ likely to strengthen stimulus next week

The Bank of Japan will likely expand its stimulus measures at its meeting next week as it seeks to limit the blow from the coronavirus outbreak and reassure volatile markets, according to people familiar with the matter.

The central bank is likely to show a more aggressive stance on buying assets such as exchange-traded funds, the people said. 

To offer support to companies struggling from the impact of the virus, the BOJ will likely offer a set of measures including a loan program, the people said. The bank may also adjust its purchasing of commercial paper and corporate bonds to help firms, some of the people said.

Japan's health ministry and local governments said Thursday the number of COVID-19 infections stood at a total of 624 infected people in Japan as of 10:30 am local time. The figure does not include those related to the Diamond Princess. 

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at 22, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.

Separately, the Japanese government is expected to cut its assessment of the economy in a monthly report due later this month, highlighting the widening economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak, according to two sources familiar with its thinking.

Kazakhstan suspends all public events

Kazakhstan is suspending all public events and taking special preventive measures due to the global spread of the coronavirus, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Separately, the Interfax news agency quoted deputy prime minister Alikhan Smailov as saying that the June World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Kazakhstan has been canceled because of the virus outbreak.

Singapore to close mosques

Singapore will close all mosques for at least five days for deep cleaning to prevent the spread of coronavirus after two congregants were thought to have been infected during an Islamic conference in neighboring Malaysia.

Singapore’s health ministry said two of nine new cases announced on Thursday were of people who had attended the event, which has also been linked to at least 12 infections in Malaysia.

A number of other religious groups have canceled physical gatherings in Singapore in recent weeks to try and halt the spread of a virus that has infected 187 people in the city-state.

Singapore is considering tapping its national reserves to fund a second economic package to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses and workers, the city-state’s president said.

Vietnam confirms 39th COVID-19 case

Vietnam's Ministry of Health  confirmed a new COVID-19 infection in its capital city of Hanoi on Thursday, bringing the total number in the country to 39, among which five were reported in Hanoi.

The latest case, a 25-year-old Vietnamese tour guide, has guided a group of tourists to the northern Ninh Binh province on March 4, during which he was in contact with a 58-year-old British tourist who was later confirmed to be infected, according to the ministry.

So far Vietnam has recorded 39 infected cases with 16 having been discharged from hospital. It saw 23 new infections, among whom over 10 are foreign tourists, since March 6.

Sri Lanka suspends on arrival visas 

Sri Lanka on Thursday suspended the on-arrival visa facility for all tourists until further notice, in a bid to prevent the COVID-19 from spreading in the island country, a statement from the Presidential Secretariat said here.

Hours after the first Sri Lankan national tested positive for the virus, health ministry officials held discussions with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who ordered the suspension of the on arrival visa facility.

ASEAN economic ministers vow to mitigate impact of COVID-19 outbreak

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic ministers have issued a statement on strengthening ASEAN's economic resilience in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The member states will remain committed to keeping the ASEAN market open for trade and investment, and will strengthen regional information sharing and coordination as well as collaboration in responding to the economic challenges posed by the outbreak, said in the statement.

It said the ministers agree that counter-measure restrictions on cross-border movements should be based on public health considerations and that trade within the region should not be unnecessarily restricted.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus kills 237 in Iran, 7,161 infected

Workers wearing protective gears disinfect as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a subway car depot in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (LEE JIN-MAN / AP)

Saudi Arabia suspends travel, flights to EU, several other countries

Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended travel of citizens and residents and halted flights with several states due to coronavirus fears, state news agency SPA said on Thursday citing an official source at Interior Ministry.

The decision includes the European Union, Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia, source added, saying the Kingdom also suspended entry to those coming from these countries.

Saudi Arabia also suspended passenger traffic through all land crossings with Jordan , while commercial and cargo traffic is still allowed, and the passage of exceptional humanitarian cases.

Saudi Arabia has 45 coronavirus cases.

Thailand reports biggest daily jump, bringing total to 70

All of the new patients had socialised and shared drinks, health officials said, adding that a tourist from Hong Kong, who had returned to the city, was the source of the infection. 

It was the biggest jump in cases for weeks in Thailand, which was one of the first countries outside China to report infections of the new COVID-19 virus.

On the same day, Thailand’s health authorities are encouraging people to make cloth face masks at home to guard against the spread of the coronavirus amid a shortage of surgical masks.

Twelve coronavirus cases linked to Malaysian Islamic conference

Malaysia’s health ministry called on Thursday for mass gatherings to be postponed after at least 12 coronavirus cases were linked to a three-day religious event in the capital attended by some 10,000 people from several countries.

Authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has reported 149 infections of the virus, are tracking about 5,000 citizens who took part in the Feb. 28-March 1 gathering of Islamic missionaries at a mosque in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. 

Israel bans gatherings over 100 people

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the public on Wednesday to refrain from holding events with over 100 people due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

During the press conference, Netanyahu also recommended that the public refrain from holding any unnecessary gatherings.

This decision came a day after the Israeli Ministry of Health banned gatherings of more than 2,000 people.

Iraq confirms another death, 2 new cases 

The two new cases were registered in the provinces of Karbala and Najaf south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Iraqi Health Ministry said in a brief statement.

It also said that a new death of an infected person was registered in Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad.

With the ministry's statement, the total number of infected cases in Iraq rose to 73, of whom eight have died.Muslim worshippers wear masks after the noon prayers outside the Grand Mosque, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, March 7, 2020. (AMR BABIL / AP)

Tourists arriving in Maldives told to present 14-day travel history

The Maldives National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC), on Thursday announced that all tourists arriving in the island country will have to present a 14-day travel history in a bid to prevent the COVID-19 from spreading further.

The Maldives Health Ministry said eight patients were confirmed with the virus while three islands were on lock down and over 100 people in quarantine.

Lebanon registers 3rd death

Lebanon recorded a third death from COVID-19, as 71 in the country are confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus, LBCI TV channel reported Thursday.

A day earlier, Lebanon allocated 39 million US dollars from a loan offered by the World Bank for the fight against COVID-19, while Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced a series of mesures aimed at restricting the spread of the virus.

Kuwait to suspend commercial flights

Kuwait has decided on Wednesday to suspend the commercial flights to and from the country starting from March 13.

According to the decision, Kuwait will also suspend work in all government departments from March 12 to 26.

In addition, the decision also stated that people will be banned from going to restaurants and cafes, including those inside malls.

Kuwait confirmed eight new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 80, Kuwait's Ministry of Health said Thursday.

COVID-19 cases in Israel rise to 97

A total of 27 Israelis were tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 97, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health. Of the 97 infected, two are in serious condition, while three others have recovered.

It also said that more than 4,000 Israelis started a 14-day home quarantine on Wednesday, raising the total number of Israelis currently in quarantine to more than 31,000.