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Medical personnel work in the ICU of Istituto Clinico Casalpalocco, in Rome, Italy, March 25, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)
- Daily new cases in Itay steadily drop while death toll fluctuates
- U.S. Senate approves historic 2-tln-USD relief package
- Thailand reports another 111 cases of COVID-19
- WHO urges countries to use "second window of opportunity" well
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 190 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious illness.
ROME -- The number of new COVID-19 cases reported daily in Italy is dropping steadily while the daily death toll is still fluctuating.
Based on the mixed picture, local experts forecast a trend of slower growth of COVID-19 infections in the country in the coming weeks.
A total of 3,491 new cases were reported on Wednesday, representing a downward trend from the past few days when the figure stood at 3,612 Tuesday, 3,780 Monday and 3,956 Sunday respectively.
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Photo taken on March 25, 2020 shows the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate approved a long-waited 2-trillion-dollar relief package on Wednesday night, an attempt to blunt the economic fallout of COVID-19, as some analysts expect the country is facing a recession.
The upper chamber passed the bill in a 96-0 vote, well above the 60-vote threshold. The package needs to be approved by the House of Representatives, before being sent to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.
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BANGKOK -- Thailand reported another 111 cases of COVID-19 infection cases on Thursday, bringing the total number to 1,045, said an official here on Thursday.
According to Anupong Suchariyakul, a physician attached to the Disease Control Department, the number breached 1,000 on Thursday. Of the total mount of 1,045 cases, 953 are currently treated at hospitals in Bangkok and various provinces, including four patients with critical conditions, while 88 others have fully recovered and been discharged and four fatalities have been reported, he said.
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Combo photo shows Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia on June 14, 2019 (upper) and its empty steps on March 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
CANBERRA -- Australia's COVID-19 death toll has increased from eight to 12 in a single day.
Victoria has recorded its first three deaths related to COVID-19 over the past day. All three deaths in the state were men in their 70s who were being treated in hospital and the other one in Queensland is a 68-year-old man who became infected on a cruise ship.
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NEW DELHI -- The death toll due to COVID-19 in India on Thursday morning rose to 13, the federal health ministry said, with 649 confirmed cases reported so far.
"Death toll related to novel coronavirus has reached 13," said the ministry at 10:15 a.m. local time.
"The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India is 649," the ministry said. "Of these, 602 cases are Indian nationals and 47 foreign nationals."
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GENEVA -- Calling it "a second window of opportunity", the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged countries to use this critical window now to suppress and stop transmission of COVID-19.
This window of opportunity was created by those countries and regions which introduced unprecedented "lockdown" measures to contain COVID-19 pandemic, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted at a daily briefing, reminding that these measures will not extinguish epidemics on their own.
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SUVA -- Vanuatu declared on Thursday a state of emergency as part of its efforts to curb COVID-19.
In a national address on Thursday, Vanuatu's caretaker Prime Minister Charlot Salwai said that the declaration was necessary to allow the government to mobilize resources and funding for their coronavirus response. ■
