Iranians wearing protective masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, cross a street in the capital Tehran, on April 26, 2020. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

NEW DELHI / DUBAI / SYDNEY - More than 500 garment factories in Bangladesh that supply to global brands reopened on Monday after a month-long shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus while all educational institutions in Bangladesh will still remain closed till September. 

Some of the world’s biggest clothing firms including Gap Inc, Zara-owner Inditex and H&M source their supplies from Bangladesh, which allowed garment manufacturers in the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong to resume work from the start of this week.

Bangladesh is home to around 4,000 garment factories employing 4.1 million workers, and industry groups for the sector had warned that the shutdown that began on March 26 could cause the country to lose US$6 billion in export revenue this financial year.

Competitors such as Vietnam, China and Cambodia have already resumed operations, Hatem said.

Bangladesh reported nearly 500 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday to take the total to 5,913 of whom 152 have died.

In India, where a strict shutdown for its 1.3 billion people is due to end on May 3, Prime Minister Narendra held talks with the chief ministers of the country’s 28 states to decide on what restrictions should be kept in place.

Modi said the risk from the virus was far from over, although India had been able to save thousands of lives because of its extended lockdown, a government statement quoted him as saying.

India has reported 28,379 confirmed infections of the coronavirus, according to government data on Monday, the highest number in Asia after China. So far 886 people have died, nowhere near the levels the United States, Italy and Spain have suffered.

Australia

More than two million Australians have downloaded an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients hours after its release, the government said on Monday, as states set out plans to expand testing for the infection.

Prime minister Scott Morrison has said more testing and widespread use of the CovidSafe phone app - which has angered some privacy campaigners - are among the main conditions for easing nationwide lockdowns.

Australia has so far confirmed around 6,700 cases of the novel coronavirus and just 83 related deaths, way below figures reported in the United States and other hotspots - something the government has put down to its border closures and other measures.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the tracing app launched late on Sunday had been downloaded by more than 2 million people - about 8 percent of the population - as of 7 pm on Monday.

The government has said it wants that proportion to reach 40 percent. “This effort will help protect ourselves, our families, our nurses and our doctors,” Hunt said in an emailed statement.

READ MORE: Australia's next step in virus battle is contact-tracing app

Indonesia

Indonesia’s number of reported cases of the coronavirus has risen by 214 to 9,096, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said on Monday.

Death rose by 22 to 765 while 1,151 people have recovered, Yurianto said.

A Muslim woman, wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, receives instructions from a social distancing ambassador at the Geylang Serai wet market in Singapore on April 23, 2020, ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Iran

The death toll from the outbreak of new coronavirus in Iran rose by 96 in the past twenty four hours to 5,806, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV on Monday.

The total number of diagnosed cases of new coronavirus in Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the outbreak in the Middle East, has reached 91,472, he said.

Iran plans to reopen mosques in parts of the country that have been consistently free of the coronavirus outbreak as restrictions on Iranians gradually ease, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday.

Iran, one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the pandemic, will be divided up into white, yellow and red regions based on the number of infections and deaths, Rouhani said, according to the presidency’s website.

Activities in each region will be restricted accordingly, so an area that has been consistently free of infections or deaths will be labelled white and mosques could be reopened and Friday prayers resumed, Rouhani said.

Iraq

Iraqi Health Ministry on Sunday said that a total of 1,820 COVID-19 cases were confirmed and 87 deaths were recorded in the country.

The Iraqi authorities have taken several measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 including a nationwide curfew.

Israel

Israel's health ministry reported 23 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total number in the country to 15,466.

Given the improving epidemic situation, the Israeli government may decide soon to reopen the national education system on May 3, the Israeli media said.

In the meantime, a full closure will be imposed in Israel from 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the annual Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers, to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Israel's Independence Day.

ALSO READ: India, Pakistan ease restrictions for some small businesses

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 40 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, taking the cumulative total to 5,820 infections.

The health ministry also reported one new death, raising the total number of fatalities from the outbreak to 99.

New Zealand

New Zealanders will be allowed to go fishing, surfing, hunting and hiking this week for the first time in more than a month as the country begins to ease its way out of a strict lockdown that successfully slowed the spread of the coronavirus.

Around 400,000 people will return to work after the country shifts its alert level down a notch at midnight on Monday, but shops and restaurants will remain closed as several social restrictions remain in place.

New Zealand’s 5 million residents were subjected to one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in response to the pandemic, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern closing offices, schools, bars and restaurants, including take away and delivery services, on March 26.

New Zealand has reported 1,122 cases of COVID-19, including 19 deaths.

An online food deliveryman checks his mobile phone while resting on a motorbike as he waits for orders during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown meant to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in New Delhi on April 27, 2020. (JEWEL SAMAD / AFP)

Oman

The Omani Ministry of Health announced on Sunday 93 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,998.

Out of the 93 new cases, 60 are non-Omanis, and all the new cases are related to community contact, said a statement issued by the ministry.

The statement pointed out that four cases recovered on Sunday, bringing the total number of the recovered cases to 333. The total death reached 10.

Palestine

Restaurants in the Gaza Strip will reopen during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, while precautionary measures will be taken to protect people from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Gaza authorities on Sunday.

The restaurants and cafes will open as of Monday under certain precautionary measures that workers and customers must abide by, the Hamas-run Economy Ministry said in a press statement.

So far, 495 cases were confirmed in Palestine, including 153 in East Jerusalem.  

Qatar

Qatar's health ministry on Sunday announced 929 new infections of the novel coronavirus, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 10,287.

"Eighty-three people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,012, while the virus fatalities remain 10," the official Qatar News Agency reported, quoting a ministry statement.

A total of 82,289 persons have undergone lab tests for COVID-19 so far. 

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia eased curfews on Sunday across the country but kept 24-hour lockdowns in place in the city of Mecca and neighbourhoods previously put in isolation to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, state news agency SPA said.

It also signed a deal with China to conduct 9 million tests for the virus. Saudi has so far recorded 17,522 cases of infection and 139 deaths.

Outside Mecca and lockdown areas, curfews will be eased between 9 am and 5 pm until May 13. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began on Friday.

South Korea

South Korea reported 10 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Monday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,738.

The daily caseload hovered around 10 for the ninth consecutive day. Of the new cases, seven were imported from overseas, lifting the combined number to 1,044.

One more death was confirmed, raising the death toll to 243. The total fatality rate came in at 2.26 percent.

Singapore

Singapore has confirmed 799 more coronavirus infections, its health ministry said on Monday, taking the city-state’s tally of cases to 14,423.

Most of the new cases are among migrant workers living in dormitories in the city-state, which has among the highest number of coronavirus infections in Asia.

READ MORE: Japan hopes longer holiday marks end of virus lockdown

Sri Lanka

The number of COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka has risen to 505, according to the latest data from the country's health ministry on Sunday.

Of all the confirmed cases, 95 are navy personnel who contracted the virus after a team of navy officers went in search of suspected patients and drug traffickers in Suduwella, Ja-Ela recently and got exposed to the virus.

The health ministry said in its latest update that 120 patients of COVID-19 have recovered, 378 are still under medical observation in designated hospitals across the country, and seven have died.

Syria

The Syrian Health Ministry said Sunday that one new COVID-19 case was recorded in Syria while three other cases have recovered.

With the new update, a total of 43 infections have so far been recorded in the country, including 14 recoveries and three deaths, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, the country has designated 104 teams across the country to inspect COVID-19 cases, according to the state news agency SANA.

In an earlier statement, the ministry said as many as 2,115 Syrians have attended medical isolation for suspected COVID-19 virus since February.

Thailand 

he Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) on Monday announced it has extended the ban on inbound flights for another month from May 1 to May 31 in a bid to stem imported COVID-19 cases.

Thailand said it plans to extend its state of emergency to May 31 to cement progress in reducing infections. The emergency, which was due to expire at the end of April, is set to be extended by another month, Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, a spokesman for the COVID-19 center, said in a briefing.

Thailand on Monday reported nine new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the country’s totals to 2,931 cases and 52 fatalities.

It is the first time since the outbreak started in January that there have been no new local transmissions reported in Bangkok, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration.

A policeman wearing personal protective equipment checks the temperature of a motorist passing through a quarantine checkpoint in Cainta town, Rizal province, east of Manila on April 24, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

The Philippines

The Philippines registered 198 new cases of the COVID-19, taking the country's total number to 7,777, health authorities said on Monday.

The Department of Health (DOH) said that 70 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 932. However, it said 10 more patients have also died, bringing the death toll to 511.

The lockdown imposed since mid-March to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus has displaced over two million workers in the Philippines, the Philippine government data showed.

Turkey

The country removed a 14-day quarantine rule for Turkish truck drivers coming in and out of the country. 

The Turkish health minister on Sunday confirmed 2,357 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 110,130.

Meanwhile, the deaths from the coronavirus have reached 2,805 after 99 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

Turkey conducted a total of 30,177 tests in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests to 889,742, the minister noted.

UAE

The emirate of Dubai said on Sunday it has lifted its full lockdown on two commercial districts which have a large population of low-income migrant workers, after the United Arab Emirates eased nationwide coronavirus curfews over the weekend.

Dubai on Friday cut its emirate-wide 24-hour lockdown back to a 10:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew. It has now taken the same step in the Al Ras and Naif districts, which had been sealed off as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

The UAE has reported more than 10,300 cases and 76 deaths resulting from the virus, the second-highest count among the six Gulf Arab countries after Saudi Arabia.

Vietnam

Three more Vietnamese people have tested positive again for COVID-19 after a full recovery, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.

The total number of COVID-19 patients retested positive after recovery in the country has reached eight as of Monday noon.

Vietnam has reported a total of 270 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 222 patients cured. There have been no deaths in the country so far, according to the Ministry of Health.