Army personnel wear protective equipment during a safety protocol drill in Surakarta, Indonesia, April 13, 2020. Indonesia has reported 316 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, lower than the number on Sunday when it was recorded at 399 cases, bringing the total to 4,557 with 399 fatalities and 380 people recovering, the government's spokesman for the Novel Coronavirus-Related Matters Achmad Yurianto said. (Photo: Xinhua)
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board has approved immediate debt service relief for 25 member countries as part of its response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* China reported 89 new coronavirus cases on April 13, down from 108 the previous day, the health authority said on Tuesday. Of the total, 86 were imported, down from 98 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.
* US President Donald Trump said Monday (April 13) his administration is close to completing a plan to open the economy, noting that he would have "total" authority to do that. As of Monday night, over 580,000 confirmed cases have been reported across the United States, with death toll surpassing 23,000, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
* Germany's number of confirmed coronavirus infections has risen by 2,082 to 125,098, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday (April 14), marking the fourth decline in the number of new cases after four days of increases. The reported death toll has risen by 170 to 2,969.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended the countrywide Lockdown till May 3 in the wake of prevailing health crisis posed by the COVID pandemic. India has been under 21-day Lockdown since March 25, which is to end Tuesday midnight.
* France would remain under a nationwide lockdown until May 11 to stem the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its impact on domestic health institutions, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday evening.
* The state of national emergency to support the COVID-19 response will be extended a third time for a further seven days, New Zealand Minister of Civil Defense Peeni Henare said on Tuesday. The initial declaration was made on March 25, and the seven-day declaration can be extended as many times as necessary. It does not change the length of the Alert Level 4 lockdown which started midnight March 25.
* Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno on Monday predicted a 20-percent drop in Portugal's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Portugal is in a state of emergency from March 19 to April 17. The country registered 16,934 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 535 deaths as of Monday, according to the daily bulletin of the health authorities.
* Russia may resort to its military resources in the fight against COVID-19 if the situation in the country continues to worsen, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday. Russia has registered a total of 18,328 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, with the number of infected rising by a new daily record of 2,558, and the death toll reaching 148.
* The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Belgium has increased from 29,647 to 30,589 by Monday morning with 3,903 deaths, according to the latest figures from Belgian health authorities.
* Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared that Australia is still "many weeks away" from easing COVID-19 restrictions. The National Cabinet, established on March 13, which is comprised of Morrison and state and territory leaders, is scheduled to meet this week to "look at the sort of prerequisites."
* India's federal health ministry said Tuesday morning the death toll due to the COVID-19 in India rose to 339 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 10,363.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched what is believed to be multiple short-range cruise missiles into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan on Tuesday, the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s joint Chiefs of Staff said. ROK's military is monitoring for more developments, and ROK and US intelligence officials were conducting more analysis of the launch, the JCS said.
* The ROK reported 27 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,564. The daily caseload hovered below 50 for the sixth straight day. Of the new cases, 12 were imported from overseas. Five more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 222.
* A tornado outbreak tearing across southern US states on Sunday and Monday has killed more than 30 people, authorities have said. There were dozens of reports of tornadoes after the storms hit states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolinas, and Tennessee.
* Thailand on Tuesday reported 34 new coronavirus cases and a death of a 52-year old Thai female bus driver in Bangkok. Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,613 cases and 41 fatalities, while 1,405 patients have recovered and gone home.
* The Philippines reported on Monday 284 new infections from the COVID-19, bringing the total number of the cases in the country to 4,932. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a nationally televised media briefing that the Department of Health (DOH) will start on Tuesday an expanded and targeted mass testing for the disease.
* Mexico registered 353 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, bringing its total to 5,014 cases and 332 deaths, the health ministry said.
* Brazil's total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 23,430, and the death toll climbed to 1,328, for a mortality rate of 5.7 percent, the Health Ministry said on Monday. The total figures rose after 1,261 new infections were detected in the past 24 hours and 105 more people died.
* Poland will start easing restrictions on its economy from April 19, Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said on Tuesday.
* Peru detected 2,265 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have tested positive to 9,784, President Martin Vizcarra said on Monday. According to Vizcarra, the high number of new cases is due to a significant increase in testing among the population.
* Chile's Ministry of Health on Monday said 7,525 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 and 82 have died. However, 2,367 of those who tested positive have recovered, bringing the number of active cases down to 5,158, health officials said at a press conference.
* Turkey's parliament on Tuesday passed a law that will allow the release of tens of thousands of prisoners to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the jails. Turkey has registered more than 61,000 COVID-19 infections with nearly 1,300 deaths as of Monday.
* Ukraine's COVID-19 fatalities have reached 93, with confirmed cases reaching 3,102, the country's health minister Maksym Stepanov told a news briefing on Monday.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced 398 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 4,521.
* The number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 11,586 in Israel after 441 new ones were added on Monday, the Israeli health ministry said. The ministry also reported 11 new deaths, bringing the death toll from the virus to 116.
* A senior Palestinian official announced on Monday evening that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached 310.
* A total of 102 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Morocco on Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,763, said the Ministry of Health. A total of 126 deaths from COVID-19 were reported while 203 patients have recovered, according to the ministry.
* The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted decisions to either postpone or cancel pre-scheduled meetings due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* The COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated in South Africa as the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 2,272, up by 99 from the previous count, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Monday.
* The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped to 17 in Zimbabwe after three more people tested positive for the coronavirus, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said on Monday.
Source: Xinhua,Reuters
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