* No new domestically transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday, the National Health Commission said Tuesday (April 7). All of 32 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on Monday were from overseas, bringing the total number of imported cases to 983, the commission said in its daily report. A total of 30 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported on the mainland on Monday, including nine imported ones.
* The Philippines' main island of Luzon will continue to be locked down until April 30 as the government continues to fight COVID-19 in the country, a Philippine official said on Tuesday. Duterte announced late Monday night that his administration is inclined to extend the lockdown. The Philippines has so far recorded 3,660 COVID-19 cases with 163 deaths and 73 recoveries.
* Thailand reported 38 new coronavirus infections and the death of a 54-year-old man on Tuesday, a spokesman for a government agency said. Since the outbreak in January, Thailand's tally stands at 2,258 infections and 27 death. 824 patients have recovered and gone home.
* Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo pledged that his government would do its utmost to protect people's lives as he prepared to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday to stem a worrying rise in new coronavirus infections in major population centres. Tokyo has seen coronavirus infections more than double to 1,116 in the past week, accounting for the highest number in the country. Nationwide, cases have climbed past 4,000 with 93 deaths as of Monday.
* The president of El Salvador warned on Monday that security forces had been ordered to enforce quarantine orders more rigorously to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, confining offenders to "containment centers" and confiscating their cars. El Salvador has confirmed 78 cases of the virus, with four deaths so far.
* US President Donald Trump said on Monday that OPEC had not pressed him to ask US oil producers to reduce their output to support global prices, which have been hard-hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said US oil production had already fallen, anyway.
* The Taliban on Tuesday broke off talks with the Afghan government on a prisoner exchange, a main step in peace talks being brokered by the United States after it agreed on a troop withdrawal pact with the militants.
* India's federal health ministry Monday morning said the death toll due to COVID-19 in India rose to 109 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 4,067. This is a jump of 26 deaths and an increase of 490 cases since Sunday evening. According to ministry officials, so far 292 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.
* The Republic of Korea reported 47 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,331. Six more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 192. The total fatality rate came in at 1.86 percent.
* Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has approved the proposal of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on large-scale social distancing to prevent further spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
* Fiji confirmed on Tuesday one more new COVID-19 case, bringing the total number of such cases to 15. All of the 15 patients remain in stable condition.
* A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Minister David Clark said on Tuesday.
* South Australian researchers have begun trialling a potential vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The team headed by Nikolai Petrovsky, a Professor at Flinders University and research director at South Australian company Vaxine Pty Ltd, are testing a vaccine candidate that has progressed to animal trials in the United States.
* Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo, the most populated and hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, decided to extend lockdown measures through April 22, Governor Joao Doria said on Monday. The state has also registered 4,620 cases of infection out of the 11,130 reported nationwide.
* The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iran rose by 2,274 to reach 60,500 on Monday, the sixth consecutive day of slowdown in a row. A total of 3,739 COVID-19 patients have died in Iran as of Monday, and 24,236 have recovered and left hospitals, with 4,083 still in critical condition.
* In Turkey, the second hardest-hit country in the Middle East, 3,148 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday, bringing the total number to 30,217, and the death toll surged to 649.
* Iraqi Health Ministry said on Monday that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has climbed to 1,031 by an increase of 70, and the death toll reached 64 in the country.
* Saudi Arabia announced on Monday a 24-hour curfew in cities including the capital Riyad as part of precautionary measures against coronavirus, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Earlier in the day, the Saudi health ministry announced the registration of 82 new infected cases in the country, raising the total number to 2,605 including 551 recoveries and 28 deaths.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to coordinate efforts to curb the outbreak of the novel coronavirus during a phone call, the prime minister's office said Monday.
* The Kuwaiti government has decided to extend the curfew time by two hours, Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh announced on Monday. Kuwait reported on Monday 109 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of the confirmed cases in the country to 665, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced 241 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 2,076.
* World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the WHO has been evaluating the use of medical and non-medical masks for COVID-19 more widely, and it will issue guidance and criteria to support countries in making that decision.
* The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the socio-economic condition of "almost all African countries" and appears to worsen dramatically as the tourism, air transport and the oil industry sectors "visibly impacted," according to a new report published by the African Union (AU) on Monday.
* The National Center for Disease Control of Libya's UN-backed government on Monday announced the first COVID-19 recovery case in the country. The center also announced a new COVID-19 case, bringing the total in the country to 19.
* The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 10 in Zimbabwe after one more person tested positive for the virus, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said Monday. Zimbabwe is currently under a 21-day national lockdown that ends on April 19.
* South Africa on Monday reported 31 more COVID-19 cases as massive community testing was gaining momentum, raising the total to 1,686 with 12 deaths, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
