India becomes 12th worst-affected country by COVID-19, Thailand records zero cases for first time since January

The overall situation in Asia-Pacific countries over the COVID-19 pandemic remained unstable on Wednesday, as India became the 12th worst-affected country with over 74,000 infections, regardless of zero cases reported in Thailand for the first time since the outbreak.

India has become the 12th most-affected country due to the pandemic after recording a total of 74,281 COVID-19 cases and 2,415 deaths, surpassing Canada's tally with 71,157 cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) list.

Thailand saw zero new COVID-19 cases, the first time since Jan. 13 when the first case was recorded in the country, according to Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Bangladesh reported 19 new deaths of COVID-19 patients, the country's biggest daily increase since March. Its number of confirmed cases increased to 17,822, with 1,162 more cases reported in the last 24 hours.

The Indonesian government announced 689 new confirmed cases of the COVID-19, the highest single-day rise since the outbreak in the country in early March, taking the total to 15,438 cases in the country.

Malaysia reported 37 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national total to 6,779, the Health Ministry said. Of the new cases, 33 cases were local transmissions and four were imported.

The Philippines' daily tally of new infections rose by 268, increasing the total number of the COVID-19 cases to 11,618.

Nepal reported 217 cases after the Ministry of Health and Population on Tuesday reported 83 new cases, the largest single-day spike in cases.

With the rising number of cases in recent days, the COVID-19 cases in Nepal more than doubled in less than a week, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Health and Population.

New Zealand reported no more COVID-19 cases for two consecutive days, with the total number of confirmed and probable cases remaining at 1,497, as the country is about to relax lockdown restrictions midnight.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government will deliver Budget 2020 on Thursday "within the most challenging economic conditions faced by any government since the Great Depression."

The country will move to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 on Thursday and reopen most businesses in 10 days, according to a decision made on Monday.

South Korea reported 26 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 10,962. After hitting the bottom at two on May 6, the daily caseload continued to rise and stay around 30 in recent days.

South Korea's job loss hit the worst in over 21 years in April as companies led employees to go on unpaid leave or be laid off amid the COVID-19 outbreak, statistical office data showed.

Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has held talks with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on the latest developments of COVID-19 pandemic.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)