* More than US$800 million has been pledged for the World Health Organization (WHO) to support countries in building their capacity to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
* Chinese health authority said Thursday (April 9) it received reports of 63 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Wednesday, of which 61 were imported. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81,865 by Wednesday, including 1,160 patients who were still being treated, 77,370 people who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,335 people who died of the disease.
* Singapore confirmed 142 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a new daily record, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update. Of these, 140 are local cases and two are imported, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 1,623 since the first case was reported on Jan. 23.
* Thailand reported 54 new coronavirus cases and 2 more deaths on Thursday, including a 74-year-old French national. Thailand has reported a total of 2,423 cases and 32 fatalities, while 940 patients have recovered and gone home since the outbreak started in January.
* The Department of Health of the Philippines on Wednesday reported 106 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 3,870. The health body said 96 patients have recovered and 182 died from the viral disease.
* Investment capital of over US$2.73 billion from permitted foreign enterprises have entered Myanmar in first half of fiscal year FY 2019-2020 which stated in October, according to figures issued by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Thursday.
* New Zealand reported 23 new confirmed and six new probable cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed and probable infections to 1,239 in the country. One person has died from COVID-19 so far, and 317 people have recovered, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield from the Ministry of Health told a press conference.
* The Republic of Korea reported 39 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Thursday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,423. Of the total new cases, 23 were imported ones. Four more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 204. The total fatality rate came in at 1.96 percent.
* The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Germany rose by 4,974 in the past 24 hours to 108,202 on Thursday, climbing for the third straight day after four previous days of drops, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll rose by 246 to 2,107.
* India's Health Ministry said on Thursday that the death toll due to COVID-19 in India rose to 166 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 5,734. This is a jump of 17 deaths and an increase of 540 cases since Wednesday morning.
* The Australian parliament has passed the government's wage subsidy scheme in a late night sitting. Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators re-convened in Canberra for a single day on Wednesday to legislate the AUD130-billion (US$81.1-billion) JobKeeper package. * The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands has increased by 969 to 20,549 as of Wednesday, according to data from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Meanwhile, the number of reported deaths rose by 147 to a total of 2,248.
* Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday announced that a new mobile app will be launched to track novel coronavirus patients. The Turkish government also set up a social science board to assess and tackle the social impacts of COVID-19.
* New Zealand will begin moving citizens to compulsory quarantine from Friday as they return from overseas, stepping up its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus halfway through a four-week nationwide lockdown. The shutdown began in late March in the Pacific nation of about 5 million, and a state of national emergency was declared to stifle local transmissions of the respiratory disease.
* Mexico might have 26,500 people infected with the coronavirus, a senior health official said on Wednesday, citing government models. Mexico has reported 3,181 confirmed cases of the virus, but many who are infected likely did not have symptoms or were not diagnosed, said Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell.
* Australians have been told to spend the upcoming Easter holidays at home, despite the number of new COVID-19 cases flattening. The country recorded less than 100 new cases in a 24-hour period, taking the total number of infections beyond 6,000, with a death toll of 51.
* The World Bank forecasts the sub-Saharan Africa region's economic growth for 2020 will contract because of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, going into a recession for the first time in 25 years, it said on Thursday.
* One hundred Taliban prisoners were released from Afghan government's prisons on Wednesday, marking the start of 5,000 Taliban inmates to be freed on parole, reported local media.
* The curfew in Honduras will be extended until April 19 as the country ramps up efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus, police said Thursday. The number of coronavirus cases in Honduras currently stands at 343 with 23 deaths, official figures show.
* The Brazilian Ministry of Health said Wednesday that a total of 15,927 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the country with 800 deaths and the mortality stood at 5 percent.
* Farmers' markets in Croatia, that had been closed since March 22 duo to the COVID-19 epidemic, have been given official clearance to reopen under strict new rules, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic confirmed on Wednesday at a press conference. A total of 1,343 cases of COVID-19 infections have been confirmed as of Wednesday afternoon, according to government website dedicated to the outbreak. There have been 19 confirmed deaths while 179 people have been cured.
* Saudi-led coalition announced on Wednesday a two-week cease-fire in Yemen, starting from Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki said in a statement that the cease-fire could be extended as part of efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
* Israel on Wednesday reported two new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 73. Of 9,404 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Israel, 738 patients were treated in hospitals across the country, according to Israel's Ministry of Health.
* The International Monetary Fund has completed talks with Chad aimed at granting access to US$115 million from its Rapid Credit Facility to help the African oil producer confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fund said in a statement. The IMF's Executive Board is expected to consider the request in mid-April.
* The Omani government decided on Wednesday to impose a lockdown on the governorate of Muscat to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. The lockdown will last from April 10 until April 22, excluding the cases of urgency and those who have special permits for their work. To date, 419 cases of coronavirus have been registered in the Sultanate, including two deaths and 72 recoveries.
* Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday 327 new coronavirus cases, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The total infection cases increased to 2,932, including 631 recoveries and 41 deaths, the spokesperson of the Health Minister, Mohammed Abdulaali told the daily press briefing.
* Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday confirmed 4,117 new COVID-19 cases and 87 more deaths from the virus in Turkey. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey rose to 38,226, while the death toll surged to 812, Koca tweeted.
* Iran reported 1,997 new COVID-19 cases and 121 more deaths from the infectious disease, bringing the tally of infections to 64,586 and the death toll to 3,993.
* The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) registered a total of 207 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, up 24 from the previous day, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB). According to the INRB, 20 people have died of COVID-19, and 10 have recovered.
* The National Center for Disease Control of Libya's UN-backed government on Wednesday announced a new COVID-19 case, raising the number of the confirmed cases in the country to 21, including one death.
