A Police Coast Guard boat patrols along the Johor Strait next to the S11 Punggol dormitories that houses foreign workers and has been made into an isolation area to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Singapore on April 21, 2020. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

SYDNEY / CARIO / ISTANBUL /  SINGAPORE - Singapore will extend its partial lockdown for another four weeks until June 1 to “decisively” bring down coronavirus cases within the community and close more workplaces, with only the most essential services remaining open.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the city-state must press on to bring down daily infections more sharply, to single digit, or even zero. 

The announcement comes two weeks after Singapore imposed so-called “circuit breaker” measures that have closed schools and most office places. Social gatherings are banned and only essential businesses are allowed to operate. 

Virus cases topped 1,000 for a second day on Tuesday, with 1,111 new cases reported on Tuesday as infections among foreign workers surge, taking the city-state’s total infections to 9,125.

Singapore is facing a very challenging situation but has the healthcare system and risk management capacity to handle it, the World Health Organization's regional chief said on Tuesday.

New Zealand

The state of national emergency to support the COVID-19 response in New Zealand will be extended a fourth time for a further seven days, Civil Defense Minister Peeni Henare said on Tuesday.

The initial declaration was made on March 25, and the seven-day declaration can be extended as many times as necessary. It does not change the COVID-19 Alert Levels or affect the decision to move to Alert Level 3.

"As we prepare to move to Alert Level 3 next Tuesday, it is important that we continue to have the powers activated by the State of National Emergency available to maintain the level of success we have seen to date in making progress towards stopping the spread of COVID-19 in our communities," Henare said.

New Zealand reported one death, two confirmed and three probable cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the toll and tally to 13 and 1,445 in the country, respectively. 

Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday declared four days of lockdown on April 23-26 to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"We are planning to announce the curfew in 31 provinces," Erdogan said after attending a video cabinet meeting from Istanbul.

The lockdown would start at midnight on Wednesday and last until midnight on April 26, he added.

Turkey’s confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease increased by 4,674 in the past 24 hours, and 123 more people have died, taking the death toll to 2,140, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Monday.

The total number of cases in the country stood at 90,980, he said, the highest total for any country outside Europe or the United States. A total of 13,430 people have recovered from the new coronavirus so far, and the number of tests carried out over the past 24 hours stood at 39,703, the minister said.

A man looks outside from his window in Istanbul on April 19, 2020, as Turkish government announced a four-day curfew on April 20 to prevent the spread of the epidemic COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus. (OZAN KOSE / AFP)

Australia

Declaring Australia was on the road to recovery with new coronavirus infections almost stamped out, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday hospitals will resume many elective surgeries and schools will be re-opened for more children.

Students in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, will start returning to school next month in much larger numbers amid a rapid decline in new coronavirus infections, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday.

Australia will suffer its biggest economic contraction since the 1930s in the first half of 2020 due to coronavirus-driven mobility restrictions, the central banker governor said on Tuesday.

The virus-hit cruise ship, Ruby Princess, is scheduled to leave Australia's waters this week, spokesperson for New South Wales (NSW) police told Xinhua on Tuesda

Nationally, Australia has recorded about 6,300 cases of coronavirus and 71 deaths.

READ MORE: New Zealand to ease lockdown restrictions next week

India

About 500 people entered self-isolation at the Presidential House in the Indian capital on Tuesday after a worker’s relative tested positive for coronavirus, officials said, as the number of cases nationwide neared 18,000 despite a strict lockdown.

Neither President Kovind, 74, or his aides were required to self-isolate, but palace workers’ families living in 114 apartments on the grounds were ordered to stay inside, while the seven members of the sanitation worker’s family were moved to a quarantine facility.

At least 53 media professionals including journalists and cameramen in Mumbai have tested positive for COVID-19 out of the 167 persons tested at a health camp conducted at the Mumbai Press Club, civic officials said on Monday.

India's federal health ministry said on Tuesday 31 new deaths due to the COVID-19, besides fresh 945 positive cases, were reported since last evening across the country, taking the number of deaths to 590 and total cases to 18,601.

Indonesia

Indonesia will ban the mass exodus tradition, locally known as 'mudik,' at the end of the Muslim fasting month in May in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country, President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday.

Indonesia reported 375 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking the total in the Southeast Asian country to 7,135. Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto reported 26 new coronavirus deaths, taking the total to 616.

Iraq

The Iraqi Health Ministry on Monday confirmed 35 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 1,574 in the country.

So far, 82 patients died from the disease while 1,043 others recovered, the statement said, adding that no death was registered during the day.

Israel

Israel's Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman and his wife have recovered from COVID-19, the state's Ministry of Health announced Monday.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Israel reached 13,713 on Monday after 222 new ones were registered, the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen from 172 to 177, the number of patients in serious condition increased from 146 to 149, while the recovery cases reached 4,049, according to the ministry.

ALSO READ: Singapore now has most coronavirus cases in SE Asia

A member of the Syrian civil defence, also known as the White Helmets, disinfects a building at a camp for displaced people near the town of Al Muhammadiyah, in Afrin's countryside in the northern governorate of Aleppo by the border with Turkey, on April 20, 2020. (RAMI AL SAYED / AFP)

Japan

The deaths of 11 people deemed to be unnatural before tests showed the victims had been infected with the novel coronavirus, the Nikkei business daily and other media said, citing the National Police Agency.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it was concerned about the increasing number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Japan.

But Japan is not yet in the stage of a large-scale community outbreak, Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, told an online press conference.

Kuwait

Kuwait will extend the suspension of work in the public sector including at government ministries until May 31 and expand a nationwide curfew to 16 hours as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus, a government spokesman said on Monday.

He said in televised remarks that the 4 pm to 8 am curfew would go into effect at the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which could fall on Thursday or later this week depending on the sighting of the new crescent moon.

Maldives

Eight new COVID-19 infections were confirmed here on Monday, according to Maldives' Health Protection Authority (HPA).

Six Maldivian nationals and two Bangladeshi nationals were confirmed COVID-19 positive in Male, raising the city's total infection count to 47.

Oman

The Omani Ministry of Health announced on Monday 144 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number in the country to 1,410.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, the 144 new cases, all community contacts, include 58 Omanis.

A Kuwaiti national, residing abroad, shows the tracking bracelet provided by authorities as she leaves at the Kuwait International airport in the capital upon her return as part of a repatriation plan on April 19, 2020, and ahead of being taken to mandatory home quarantine. (YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia extended on Monday the suspension of praying in the Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque during the fasting month of Ramadan to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques’ Affairs said on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday a total of 10,484 coronavirus cases after the registration of 1,122 new ones, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

According to the daily press briefing, 73 percent of the new cases are non-Saudis, while 8,891 are under treatment, with 88 in critical condition.

READ MORE: S'pore sees biggest daily jump in infection, Japan expands testing

South Korea

South Korea reported nine more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,683.

The daily caseload hovered around 10 for the fourth straight day after reporting 18 on Saturday, eight on Sunday and 13 on Monday each.

One more death was confirmed, lifting the death toll to 237. The total fatality rate came in at 2.22 percent.

Sri Lanka

The number of positive COVID-19 patients rose to 304 in Sri Lanka on Monday after 33 new patients were detected, the government Information Department said in a statement here.

Seven deaths have been reported from the virus, the Health Ministry said.
Thailand

The Thai people nationwide have been encouraged to help reduce the number of newly-reported cases of COVID-19 infection to less than 10 on daily basis.

Thailand recorded 19 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a senior health official said, the lowest daily tally in more than a month.

The Southeast Asian nation has a total of 2,811 cases and 48 deaths. Nearly 75%, or 2,108 sufferers, have recovered.

A motorway sign reads "Essential workers we thank you" in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and the efforts of those working during the crisis, along a quiet street in Wellington on April 20, 2020. (MARTY MELVILLE / AFP)

The Philippines 

The Philippines reported 140 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total number of infections to 6,599 in the country.

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines said that 41 patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 654. However, it said nine patients have died, bringing the death toll to 437.

The World Health Organization has recognised a worrisome trend of infections among healthcare workers in the Philippines - 766 health workers, approximately 13% of cases in the Philippines, have contracted the virus and 22 health workers have died from the disease.

Abdi Mahamud, the COVID-19 incident manager for the Western Pacific region, told a briefing that it could be linked to the availability of personal protective equipment and levels of exposure to the coronavirus among infected individuals in the Philippines.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced 484 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 7,265.

The ministry also confirmed two more deaths, pushing the country's death toll to 43.