South, Southeast Asia on high alert amid spikes of COVID-19 cases

The spread of the coronavirus has been accelerating in South and Southeast Asia on Thursday as India reported 9,304 more positive cases and a peak could still be weeks away in the world's second-most populous country, while Malaysia recorded its biggest daily jump of 277 new infections.

India's health ministry Thursday morning announced 260 new deaths and 9,304 new positive cases during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 6,075 and total cases to 216,919.

"We are very far away for the peak," said Nivedita Gupta, official of the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research. Government officials have previously said it could be later this month.

Malaysia reported 277 new cases, the highest daily number to date, pushing the national total to 8,247.

Health ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that 270 of the new cases are foreign nationals detained at an immigration detention center on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Of the remaining 1,573 active cases, six are currently being held in intensive care and two of those are in need of assisted breathing. No new deaths have been reported, leaving the total deaths at 115.

Bangladesh confirmed 35 more fatalities from the virus, bringing the country's death toll to 781, and an addition 2,423 positive cases were reported, taking the total to 57,563.

Also during the last 24 hours, 571 more patients were released from hospitals and clinics, bringing the number of recovered patients in the country to 12,161.

In the Philippines, the number of coronavirus cases surged to 20,382 after the Department of Health reported 634 more infections.

The number of recoveries further climbed to 4,248 after 95 more patients have recovered, and the death toll also increased to 984 after 10 more patients have died from the virus.

The confirmed cases in Indonesia rose by 585 within one day to 28,818, and the death toll increased by 23 to 1,721.

A total of 486 more people had been discharged from hospitals, making the total number of recovered patients to 8,892.

Thailand witnessed 17 new infections, bringing the total cases to 3,101.

All of the new cases were Thais staying in quarantine after returning from the Middle East.

The death toll remains at 58, and 2,968 patients have recovered.

South Korea reported 39 more cases compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 a.m. Thursday local time, raising the total number of infections to 11,629.

The daily caseload stayed above 30 for four straight days due to small cluster infections from religious gatherings in the metropolitan area.

New Zealand recorded no new case for 13 consecutive days, with the combined total of confirmed and probable cases staying at 1,504, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said on Thursday.