Surfers and swimmers head to the ocean after Bondi Beach reopened following a five week closure in Sydney on April 28, 2020, amid the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic. (PETER PARKS / AFP)

AMMAN / DUBAI / YANGON / SYDNEY / MALE / HANOI / SEOUL — Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday bans on international travel and large gatherings would stay in place even as the government eases lockdowns and moves towards a “COVID-safe” economy and society.

Australia has recorded 6,738 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and 89 related deaths as of Wednesday - way below the figures reported in the United States, parts of Asia and Europe and other hotspots.

Morrison urged more people to download an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients. The government has said more than 3 million Australians - about 12% of the population - now have CovidSafe installed on their phones, but the proportion needs to rise to 40%.

Yemen

There is a “very real probability” the new coronavirus is circulating in Yemen, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning that an aid funding shortfall would compromise efforts to combat the virus in one of the most vulnerable countries.

The war-damaged nation, whose population has been weakened by widespread hunger and disease, has reported one laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 case but due to inadequate testing and a shattered health system aid groups fear a devastating outbreak.

The office of the UN aid chief in Yemen said that based on transmission patterns in other countries and given 17 days have passed since Yemen reported its first case, “agencies are warning there is now a very real probability that the virus has been circulating undetected and unmitigated within communities”.

Yemen reported on Wednesday five new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country's southern port city of Aden.

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Iran

Iranian health ministry on Wednesday reported 1,073 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 93,657 in the country, state TV reported.

Also, 80 new death cases were registered overnight, bringing the total number of the deaths from COVID-19 to 5,957, said Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Jahanpur said that a total of 73,791 cases have recovered and left hospitals, with 2,965 still in critical condition and under treatment.

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh has registered a daily record of 641 COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, with the total number exceeding 7,000 as of Wednesday, official data showed.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana told a press conference broadcast by television channels on Wednesday afternoon that "the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 7,103, including 641 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours."

"Eight more people also died in the last 24 hours," Sultana said.

Kuwait

Kuwait on Wednesday reported 300 new cases of COVID-19 and one more death, bringing the total infections to 3,740 and the death toll to 24, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Among the new cases were two Kuwaiti citizens who returned from France and the United States, the statement said, adding that 294 new cases had contacts with infected patients.

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 94 new COVID-19 cases, most of them being imported cases of locals returning from overseas, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that 72 of the 94 new cases were Malaysians returning from Indonesia, with the remaining 22 cases being local transmissions.

The new cases pushed the national total to 5,945, of which 1,758 are active cases. Another 55 had been released, bringing the total cured and discharged to 4,087 or 68.7 percent of all cases.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 528 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 14,951.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 10 were detected in the community, seven were work permit holders residing outside dormitories, and 511 were work permit holders residing in dormitories.

During the past day, 33 more patients of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 1,128 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, the ministry said.

There are currently 1,889 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 21 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Some 11,920 patients are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

Syria

The Syrian government said on Wednesday it extended a nationwide curfew to stem the spread of coronavirus but had eased a tight lockdown by allowing all businesses and public markets to go back to work.

The government imposed the nationwide curfew just over a month ago after it announced its first official confirmed coronavirus case following weeks of denying claims of a cover-up by medical sources and witnesses who said there were many more cases.

UN bodies and humanitarian workers have warned the country, which has now reported 43 confirmed cases and three deaths, is at high risk with a fragile health sector and lack of sufficient resources in the event of a major outbreak.

A Yemeni girl wears a protective face mask in the capital Sanaa on April 2, 2020, amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. (PHOTO / AFP)

Myanmar

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar has risen to 149, with three more confirmed cases reported late Tuesday, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.

All the newly confirmed cases are from Yangon region and were under quarantine as they were in close contact with previously confirmed cases.

According to the ministry's release, 16 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

Myanmar has reported five deaths of COVID-19 as of Tuesday since the infectious disease was first detected in the country on March 23.

Israel

The total number of COVID-19 recoveries in Israel exceeded the number of active cases for the first time, the state's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the number of active cases has dropped to 7,641, while the number of recoveries reached 7,929, with 183 new recoveries since Tuesday evening.

The total number of COVID-19 cases on Israel has reached 15,782, with 54 new cases.

The death toll rose to 212 with two new deaths reported while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 116 to 120, out of 352 patients currently hospitalized.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's coronavirus cases exceeded 20,000 on Tuesday after 1,266 new infections were confirmed, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Mohammed Al Abdulaali, spokesman of the health ministry, told the daily press briefing that 66 percent of the new cases were detected through random screening, while 77 percent of them are non-Saudis.

Iraq

Iraq on Tuesday tightened the restriction measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, warning of re-imposing full curfew as many citizens failed to abide by the measures.

The office of caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said in statement that the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, headed by Mahdi, decided to add one hour to the earlier curfew, from 6:00 am (0300 GMT) to 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), between April 21 and May 22.

Among other decisions, the committee decided to impose a fine of 10,000 Iraqi dinars (around US$8) on those who refrain from wearing masks and keeping social distancing among customers inside the stores.

The committee also ordered the health authorities, Interior Ministry and the National Security members to assess the extent of compliance with the measures by the citizens and report on that within seven days.

It warned that if the number of COVID-19 cases increased further, it could re-impose a full curfew with more restriction measures.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that 81 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded, bringing the total number of infections to 1,928, of whom 90 have died.

Oman

The Omani health ministry announced on Tuesday 82 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number in the country to 2,131.

According to a ministry statement, all new cases, including 40 Omanis, are related to community contact.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries and the death toll remain at 364 and 10 respectively, according to the statement.

Jordan

Jordan on Tuesday reported the eighth death of COVID-19 in the country with no new case confirmed.

The new death case is a man in his 40s, Health Minister Saad Jaber said in a statement obtained by Xinhua.

Meanwhile, six more patients have recovered while 89 patients are still in hospital, he added.

More than 3,000 coronavirus tests were conducted on Tuesday, all negative, the minister noted.

He called on all people to wear masks in public as people will be allowed to use cars for buying their needs from Wednesday.

Mongolia

Mongolia received medical supplies from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The medical materials included 100,000 masks, 1,000 protective suits and 200 boxes of testing kits.

Mongolian Health Minister Davaajantsan Sarangerel expressed her deep gratitude to the Chinese government and people for the donation.

As of Tuesday, a total of 38 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Mongolia.

Sri Lanka

The number of confirmed COVID-19 patients surpassed 600 in Sri Lanka on Tuesday after 23 patients tested positive, the Health Ministry said in its latest update.

The government information department said that out of the total new infected patients, some were navy officers from the Welisara Navy camp, in the outskirts of Colombo, which has been declared an isolated area following a rise in the number of positive cases within the camp.

According to statistics from the Health Ministry, to date, Sri Lanka has recorded 611 positive COVID-19 patients out of which 134 have recovered and been discharged. A total of 470 are under medical observation in the designated hospitals across the country while seven deaths have been reported from the virus.

India

India's federal health ministry Wednesday morning said 70 new deaths due to COVID-19 and an additional 1,358 positive cases were reported since Tuesday evening across the country, taking the number of deaths to 1,007 and total cases to 31,332.

"As on 8:00 am (local time), today 1,007 deaths related to novel coronavirus have been recorded in the country," reads the information released by the ministry.

Qatar

Qatar's health ministry on Tuesday announced 677 new infections of COVID-19, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 11,921.

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Maldives

Maldives recorded 16 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the country's total to 245, according to data from the Health Protection Authority (HPA).

The HPA said that three Maldivian citizens, nine Bangladeshi citizens, and four Indian citizens tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. The country has 228 active cases with one patient hospitalized.

Vietnam

Vietnam reported no new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the fourth day in a row, with its total confirmed cases remaining at 270, according to the Ministry of Health.

Thailand

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed after Tuesday's cabinet meeting that his government has decided to extend the state of emergency, including the night curfew, until the end of May.

Prayut said however he will allow some businesses, including shopping malls and hair salons, to reopen to ease the impact of business shutdowns.

Lebanon

Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Wednesday by four cases to 721 while the death toll remained unchanged at 24, the National News Agency reported.

Head of Lebanon's Doctors Syndicate Charaf Abou Charaf urged people to take serious precautionary measures because the country is not yet safe from the virus.

"People should avoid gatherings because COVID-19 risk is more dangerous than economic and social crises," he said, urging protesters in the country to take this into account when holding protests.

Japan

The Japanese government is planning to extend the state of emergency over the new coronavirus pandemic by about one month for the entire country, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

The government will make a final decision after hearing from experts at a meeting on Friday, the Nikkei said.

The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 202 to reach 14,097, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities on Wednesday.

The nationwide death toll from the virus has now reached a total of 447, including those from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

South Korea

South Korea reported nine more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 am Wednesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,761.

The daily caseload hovered around 10 for the 11th straight day. Of the new cases, five were imported from overseas, lifting the combined number to 1,061.

Two more deaths were confirmed, raising the death toll to 246. The total fatality rate came in at 2.29 percent.

A total of 68 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 8,922. The total recovery rate was 82.9 percent.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has updated the data once a day at 10:00 am local time from March 10, after having announced it twice a day.

New Zealand

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that she spoke to Queen Elizabeth II after the country emerged out a strict lockdown that helped contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Ardern said she recently received a message saying the Queen was eager to “touch base” and see how New Zealand was doing under circumstances of the global pandemic.

“What I came away with was a genuine and strong sense that her Majesty was really interested in knowing how we were doing and was heartened to know that we were doing ok,” Ardern said at a news conference.

New Zealand was under a strict lockdown that saw offices, schools, malls, restaurants, playgrounds and all other public areas shut for over a month. The lockdown was lifted on Tuesday.

The Pacific country reported two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking the total to 1,474 and 19 deaths, far lesser than many other countries as it successfully contained the virus by locking down its borders and its economy.

Pakistan

The death toll of COVID-19 has risen to 327 with 14,885 confirmed cases in Pakistan, according to the data available on the website of the country's health ministry on Wednesday morning.

The figures showed that at least 26 patients died and 806 persons confirmed positive out of 8,530 tests conducted during the last 24 hours across the country.

According to the ministry, overall, 11,133 patients are under treatment in different hospitals while 3,425 have recovered completely, which is 23 percent of the total confirmed cases.

The Philippines

The number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines climbed to 8,212 on Wednesday with 254 new cases reported amid strict lockdown restrictions imposed since mid-March.

Twenty-eight more deaths were recorded, bringing the country's fatalities from the highly infectious disease to 558, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

It said 48 more COVID-19 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,023. 

Indonesia

The Indonesian government on Wednesday announced 260 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the archipelagic country to 9,771.

There were also 11 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 784, the government's spokesperson for the COVID-19-related matters Achmad Yurianto said at a press conference.

Yurianto, who is a Health Ministry official, also said that as many as 137 more people have been discharged from hospitals after their recoveries, taking the total number of recovered patients to 1,391.

According to him, the latest total number of COVID-19 suspects across the country is 21,653.

Laos 

Laos reported no new COVID-19 infected case on Wednesday, and one more patient has recovered.

The total number of COVID-19 case in Laos remained at 19 and the last patient in Luang Prabang province is returning home after twice testing negative for the virus, Lao Deputy Minister of Health Phouthone Meaungpak told a press conference in Vientiane.