Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, right, speaks as he stands with the Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during a press conference at Australia's Parliament House in Canberra, March 22, 2020. Morrison told citizens to cancel any domestic travel plans to slow the spread of coronavirus. (DAVID GRAY / AFP)

SINGAPORE/TEHRAN/TOKYO/MELBOURNE/HANOI/MANILA/MUMBAI/BANGKOK/WELLINGTON/GAZA – Australia will enforce more stringent controls to slow the spread of the coronavirus, closing pubs, casinos, restaurants and other venues from Monday after the number of infections surged past 1,000.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said authorities were compelled to ramp up their response after many Australians flouted social-distance guidelines, with thousands of people flocking to beaches at the weekend and socializing in bars.

“What we saw was a disregard of those social distancing practices as people turned up to the beach in large numbers and crammed venues,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra after a meeting of the national Cabinet late Sunday. “That sent a very clear message that social distancing practices are not being observed as well as they could be.”

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Classrooms should remain open until the end of this term, though parents could take their children out of school if they preferred, Morrison said. Casinos, nightclubs, gyms, churches and other places of worship are among other venues that will be closed under the Stage 1 measures that will be reviewed monthly.

Iran 

The Iranian authorities on Sunday ordered the closure of commercial centers in the capital Tehran amid the challenges of COVID-19 spread. Only convenience stores and pharmacies are allowed to stay open in Tehran and any business that disregards the new order will be punished, Hamidreza Goudarzi, deputy governor of Tehran province, was quoted as saying by state TV.

Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries by the coronavirus epidemic, with the total number of confirmed cases having surpassed 20,000.

Iran's top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile rejected US offer to the Islamic republic over COVID-19 outbreak.

Khamenei said Sunday the US officials had continuously sent messages to Iran about their offer, but Iran did not accept it since it "does not trust" them.

In this March 17, 2020 photo, healthcare officers monitor arriving passengers at a temperature screening point at Terminal 3 of Singapore Changi Airport in Singapore. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Singapore

Singapore said it will bar all short-term visitors from entering or transiting through the city-state to reduce the risk of imported cases of the coronavirus.

The government will also limit the entry of work permit holders to those in essential sectors such as healthcare and transport, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs a ministerial task force to tackle the virus, said at a briefing on Sunday.

Wong said it isn’t clear how long the restrictions on short-term visitors, which will effectively start on Tuesday, will last.

Holders of various visas or passes, which allow them to work and live in Singapore, risk not being allowed back in soon should they decide to leave the island now, Wong said.

Indonesia

The COVID-19 outbreak has claimed 48 lives in Indonesia, authorities said Sunday, confirming 64 new cases, which took the total to 514 in the country.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said he would use "all state powers" to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak as the death toll in the country has climbed to the highest in Southeast Asia.

Authorities have been conducting a rapid testing measure in areas where COVID-19 cases were found.

JAPAN

Japanese authorities said Sunday the number of COVID-19 infections nationwide had risen to 1,078 cases as of 6:30 pm local time.

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at 46, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama.

Vietnam 

Vietnam said it will temporarily suspend entry to all foreigners who already have travel visas to the country, except for those visiting the country for diplomat or official purposes, amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Foreigners who are deemed experts, business managers or highly skilled workers will still be allowed to enter the country but must have certificates indicating they have tested negative for the virus, must fill out health declarations and will be ordered into quarantine upon arrival.

The entry suspension will also apply to foreign nationals who are ethnic Vietnamese, and who normally can travel to Vietnam visa-free, according to the posting.

Thailand 

Thailand reported an additional 188 coronavirus infections, its biggest one-day gain, as the outbreak worsened.

The total rose to 599 cases, with seven patients in serious condition, a health ministry spokesman said Sunday. Officials are urging people, especially in capital Bangkok, to stay home to halt the spread, he said.

Infections in Thailand have jumped this month, prompting the government to close shopping malls, restaurants and other gathering venues to stop the pandemic. The nation’s capital imposed a partial shutdown from Sunday after coronavirus cases surged.

READ MORE: SE Asia ramps up virus containment efforts

Malaysia

Ten individuals have died of the COVID-19 in Malaysia as of Sunday with the country reporting 123 new confirmed cases. The new cases take the tally to 1,306, according to the Health Ministry.

Commuters stand in line to ride the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train ahead of a curfew, imposed due to the coronavirus, in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, March 16, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Philippines 

Philippine Congress will craft a stimulus package of at least 200 billion pesos (US$3.93 billion) when it meets Monday to discuss a supplemental budget to shore up the economy from the impact of a lockdown aimed at containing the coronavirus outbreak.

“What we talked about is an amount that won’t be less than 200 billion pesos in the next two months to make sure no Filipino will go hungry nor have no access to medicine,” House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said in a video posted on his Facebook account after a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte Saturday.

The Philippine health authorities confirmed on Sunday 73 new cases of COVID-19 in the country, bringing the total number of people sick with the highly contagious disease to 380.

Qatar

Qatar banned social gatherings and introduced enforcement measures including checkpoints and mobile police patrols as part of an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

“All types of gatherings are prohibited, including gathering in vehicles,” Ministry of Interior representative Colonel Hassan Al Kuwari, director of Central Operations at the Ministry of Interior, said at a press conference Saturday. “If there is more than one person in a car, they will be stopped and questioned.”

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A tweet summarizing the latest measures published by the Government Communications Office also said public parks and beaches would be closed until further notice.

India

India launched a 14-hour long curfew on Sunday to limit the fast-spreading coronavirus epidemic in the country, where 315 people have so far been found to have contracted the disease. Four deaths have been reported so far, and no casualty reported in the past few days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation last week urged citizens to stay indoors – a move that he said would be a crucial test for a country to assess its abilities to fight the pandemic.

"Total number of confirmed cases so far in the country as on March 21 at 10:45 pm, including foreign nationals, is 315," said a statement put up the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s website.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz Sunday confirmed 10 new COVID-19 cases, including the first two cases in national capital of Kabul.

New Zealand 

New Zealand reported 14 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 66.

The newly reported cases are in both North Island and South Island regions of Auckland, Northland, Canterbury, New Plymouth, Waikato, Tauranga, Coromandel, and Dunedin, the Ministry of Health confirmed.

Palestine

Two Palestinians in Gaza have tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first cases recorded in the Hamas-ruled enclave, a health official said early Sunday.

The patients are two Palestinians who arrived in Gaza from Pakistan through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Thursday, said Health Ministry Director-General Yousef Abu al-Reesh.