A soldier checks the body temperature of residents as they queue for free rice provided by the government for those whose livelihoods are affected by the new coronavirus outbreak, at the Central Jakarta Military District Command, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 11, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

SYDNEY / DUBAI / TEHRAN / SINGAPORE / BEIRUT - Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged a cautious approach to lifting of partial lockdowns covering almost 100 million people in a string of regions and cities amid pressure to re-open the economy as the nation’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topped 1,000.

“The easing must be done carefully and not in a hurry,” Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, said Tuesday. “It must be based on data and implementation in the field so that the decision is the right decision.”

As Southeast Asia’s biggest economy continues to grind to a halt, adding millions to the ranks of the unemployed, officials have begun discussing an exit strategy from large scale social distancing rules. But with a health system buckling under the weight of the pandemic that’s showed no sign of slowing its spread, medical experts have cautioned against easing restrictions.

The death toll from the outbreak reached 1,007 on Tuesday with a total of 14,749 people infected so far, official data show. The number of people suspected of contracting the virus and exhibiting symptoms but still awaiting clinical confirmation exceeded 32,000 and authorities have put more than 250,000 people under observation nationwide.

More than 20 provinces and cities in Indonesia have imposed large-scale social restrictions with varying degrees of success. Of the 10 provinces with the most cases, only three had resorted to partial lockdowns with the island of Java accounting for 70 percent of new cases, and 82 percent of deaths, Jokowi said.

Iran

All mosques in Iran will reopen temporarily on Tuesday, a further step in the government’s plans to ease restrictions that aimed to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the official IRIB news agency reported.

The decision to reopen the mosques was made in consultation with the ministry of health, IRIB quoted Mohammad Qomi, the director of the Islamic Development Organization, as saying.

The tally of COVID-19 infections surged to 109,286 after 1,683 new cases were registered.

The country also reported 45 new deaths from the virus on Monday, raising the death toll to 6,685. A total of 87,422 coronavirus patients have recovered, with 2,703 still in critical condition.

Australia

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he was tested for COVID-19 and is isolation awaiting the result after he coughed repeatedly during a speech in parliament on Tuesday.

Alison McMillan, Australia's Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, said on Tuesday afternoon that the country's number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased by 18 in 24 hours to 6,964.

Almost all of the new cases were in Victoria, where restrictions will begin to ease on Tuesday night, while New South Wales (NSW), the hardest-hit state, has recorded its first day with zero new case since the pandemic began.

The number of Australian patients who have recovered from the virus has grown from 6,179 on Monday to 6,229.

Victoria state will resume face-to-face teaching from May 27, weeks earlier than expected, after a school shutdown to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday.

Victorian classes would resume starting with years 11 and 12, and prep grades one and two, Andrews said.

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Bangladesh  

Bangladesh confirmed 11 more fatalities from the COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the country's death toll to 250.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said the number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 16,660. 

Bangladesh recorded the highest 1,034 cases in a 24-hour period on Monday, followed by Tuesday's 969 cases.

Bhutan 

Bhutan reported two more positive cases of COVID-19, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday, taking the tally to 11. 

The two, a 25-year old man and 27-year old woman have also returned from the Middle East as the previous two confirmed patients. The four were amongst hundreds of Bhutanese nationals brought home from the Middle East.

Iranian women, wearing protective face masks and gloves without observing social distancing, buy items from a street vendor in the capital Tehran on May 9, 2020. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

India

The total number of COVID-19 cases crossed the 70,000 mark, reaching 70,756, and the death toll rose to 2,293 on Tuesday in India, according to official data released by the federal health ministry.  

Iraq

Iraq confirmed 51 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 2,818, of whom 110 have died and 1,790 recovered.

In the meantime, the country's new Health Minister Hassan Mohammed al-Tamimi hinted at the return to the full curfew or limited regional curfew to protect the citizens from the spread of coronavirus.

Israel

The Israeli health ministry reported 29 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number in the country to 16,506.

Meanwhile, the number of death cases rose to 258 after six new ones added, the highest daily number since April 30 when seven patients died, according to the ministry.

Japan

The Japanese Health Ministry is set to approve antigen coronavirus testing kits on Wednesday, a ministry official said on Tuesday, in a move to boost the number of diagnostic tests available to battle the pandemic.

Fujirebio, a subsidiary of Japanese diagnostics and laboratory testing service provider Miraca Holdings, last month applied for government approval for Japan’s first antigen coronavirus testing kits.

Jordan

Jordan on Monday confirmed 22 new cases of coronavirus, raising the total number to 562.

Jordan conducted 4,000 tests for the novel coronavirus on Monday, increasing the total number of tests conducted in the kingdom to 119,000, he noted.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said the public would be banned from using their cars on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, a three-day religious holiday at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A Yemeni worker sprays disinfectant in a neighbourhood of the capital Sanaa, on May 11, 2020, during an emergency lockdown in certain areas due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) Kuwait

Kuwait reported 598 new cases, bringing the country's total number of infections to 9,286, of whom 65 have died and 2,907 recovered.

Kyrgyzstan 

Kyrgyzstan reported 21 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing its total number to 1,037.

Deputy Health Minister Nurbolot Usenbaev said three new cases came from abroad, with one from Dubai and two from Russia while another six medical workers tested positive for COVID-19. 

He said that 14 pregnant women have contracted the disease since March, but all of them have received appropriate treatment.

Lebanon

Lebanon’s government has ordered most of the country to shut down again for four days, starting on Wednesday night, as it seeks to ward off a coronavirus resurgence after easing some restrictions.

The country has been under lockdown since mid-March to rein in an outbreak that has infected 870 people and killed 26. Lebanon started lifting restrictions last week as part of a longer-term plan, letting restaurants, hair salons, construction sites and others re-open at lower capacity.

Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said the four-day closure, which excludes supermarkets and pharmacies, would also allow teams from the health ministry to conduct more testing.

Nepal

Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population on Monday reported 24 new cases of COVID-19, the largest single day spike, bringing the total number of cases to 134 as the Himalayan country has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent days.

Nepal has so far reported no death from COVID-19 cases. As many as 33 infected persons have recovered, the Health Ministry said.

As the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise, the Nepali government on May 6 decided to extend the ongoing lockdown till May 18 and continue the suspension of international flights till May 31.

New Zealand

New Zealand will unleash billions of stimulus dollars at its annual budget this week to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic, leaving it with ballooning debt and a dismal fiscal position that will take years to fix.

Oman

The Omani health ministry announced on Monday 174 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number in the country to 3,573.

 Meanwhile, 94 patients have recovered from the virus, bringing the total recoveries to 1,211.

The ministry called on people to observe the procedures for quarantine, avoid public places or places of worship, and ensure public hygiene. 

Qatar

In Qatar, 1,103 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, bringing the total number to 23,623, of whom 14 have died and 2,840 recovered.

Singapore

Singapore’s health ministry said on Tuesday it had confirmed another 884 coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s tally of infections to 24,671.

South Korea

South Korean authorities were combing through mobile phone data, credit card statements and CCTV footage on Tuesday to identify people who visited nightclubs at the centre of one of the capital's biggest novel coronavirus clusters as infections linked to the nightclubs rose to 102, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

South Korea reported 27 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 am Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,936.

Of the new cases, five were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 1,138.

Two more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 258. The total fatality rate stood at 2.36 percent.

Masked customers queue outside a McDonald on the first day of opening after three weeks closure due to the pandemic in Singapore on May 11, 2020. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Thailand

Thailand on Tuesday reported two new coronavirus cases and no new deaths, bringing the total to 3,017 cases and 56 deaths since the outbreak started in January.

Meanwhile, over 10,000 Thai nationals have returned home so far from neighboring countries and been immediately put into quarantine, a government official said on Tuesday.

The Philippines

The Philippines on Tuesday announced an extension of a lockdown of its capital, Manila, to 11 weeks, stretching one of the world’s strictest and longest community quarantines to June to try to contain coronavirus outbreaks.

That would buck a global trend of easing lockdowns as countries try to strike a balance between containment and restoring some normalcy to limit economic damage.

The Philippines’ Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 25 more coronavirus deaths and 264 additional infections.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths had reached 751 while confirmed cases have risen to 11,350. 

Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday declared a four-day lockdown from May 16 to 19 as part of the measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Monday reported 1,114 new COVID-19 cases and 55 more fatalities in Turkey.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country has climbed to 139,771 while the death toll surged to 3,841, Koca tweeted.

In addition, 95,780 patients have recovered from COVID-19, while 1,126 are being treated at intensive care units and 578 intubated, according to the minister.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced 680 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 18,878.

A total of 577 more patients have made full recovery from the virus, taking the tally of the UAE's recoveries to 5,381, according to the ministry.

The ministry also confirmed three more deaths, pushing the country's death toll to 201.

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Yemen

Yemen's health authorities on Monday recorded five new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total confirmed cases in the war-ravaged Arab country to 56.

The five new cases were detected in the coastal city of Mukalla in the southeastern province of Hadramout, according to a brief statement released by the country's supreme national emergency.

Meanwhile, the death toll from coronavirus climbed to nine in different areas of the government-controlled provinces including the southern port city of Aden and Hadramout.