China records lowest daily hike in new COVID-19 cases

Beijing: China has recorded 40 new coronavirus cases, its lowest daily increase, with all coming in from the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, except four imported cases in Gansu province, the National Health Commission said on Monday morning.

It was the lowest number recorded since mainland China started reporting daily figures on January 20, and the second day in a row that all non-imported cases were in Wuhan, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said in a report.

The Commission said that were 22 new deaths, with one in the southern Guangdong province and the rest in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

With the new fatalities, the overall death toll in the Chinese mainland has reached 3,119, with a total of 80,735 confirmed cases.

The four imported cases recorded in Gansu involved people on flights from Iran to Lanzhou, the province's capital. These took the total number of imported cases recorded in China to 67.

On Monday,the Japanese government implemented tougher border control measures for travellers from China and South Korea, effectively banning tourists from the two countries until the end of this month as it steps up efforts to contain the spread of the virus with less than five months to go until the Tokyo Olympics.

Nearly three million visas already issued to nationals of China - including Hong Kong and Macau - and South Korea have been invalidated.

All arrivals from the two countries, including Japanese and other foreign nationals, will be asked to undergo a 14-day voluntary quarantine.

As of Sunday, South Korea had the highest number of confirmed cases outside China, with a total of 7,382, with 51 deaths, said the SCMP report citing the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention as saying.

Italy's total number of infections jumped by 1,492 on Sunday to 7,375. Its death toll had climbed to 366, with 133 added on Sunday alone.

The Netherlands confirmed two deaths on Sunday, taking the country's toll to three. Switzerland reported a second death.

Each of the six continents with confirmed cases has reported at least one death.

South America became the last continent excluding Antarctica to report a fatality when Argentina confirmed the death of a 64-year-old man in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

According to figures released by the SCMP on Monday, the countries which have registered coronavirus cases outside China are South Korea (7,382), Italy (7,375), Iran (6,566), Japan (1,176, including 696 from Diamond Princess), France (1,126), Germany (902), Spain (430), the US (over 414, including 21 in Grand Princess), Switzerland (281), the UK (273), Netherlands (265), Sweden (203), Belgium (200), Norway (169), Singapore (150), Hong Kong (114), Austria (102), Malaysia (99), Bahrain (85), Australia (80), Greece (66), Kuwait (62), Canada (60), Iraq (54), Iceland (53), Thailand (50), Egypt (48), Taiwan (45), the UAE (45), India (42), Israel (39), San Marino (36), Denmark (31), Vietnam (29), Lebanon (28), Czech Republic (26), Portugal (21), Algeria (20), Brazil (19), Finland (19), Ireland (19), Oman (16), Palestine (16), Ecuador (14), Slovenia (12), Croatia (12), Georgia (12), Qatar (12), Saudi Arabia (11), Philippines (10), Macau (10), Estonia (10), Russia (10), Azerbaijan (nine), Costa Rica (nine), Argentina (nine), Chile (seven), Mexico (seven), Chile (seven), Pakistan (seven), Belarus (six), Indonesia (six), Peru (six), Poland (six), French Guiana (five), New Zealand (five), Afghanistan (four), Senegal (four), Bulgaria (four), Luxembourg (three), Bangladesh( three), North Macedonia (three), South Africa (three), Malta (three), Slovakia (three), Maldives (two), Cambodia (two), Cameroon (two), Martinique (two), Latvia (two), Morocco (two), Dominican Republic (two), Bosnia and Herzegovina (two), and one each in Serbia, Armenia, Nepal, Colombia, Faroe Islands, Nigeria, Andorra, Sri Lanka, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Moldova, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine, Jordan, Bhutan, Paraguay, Vatican City and Monaco

Deaths outside China were reported in Italy (366), Iran (194), South Korea (51), the US (21), France (19), Japan (14), Spain (eight), Iraq (four), Australia (three), the UK (three), Hong Kong (three), the Netherlands (three), Switzerland (two), and one each in Thailand, Egypt, Taiwan, San marino, the Philippines and Argentina.

(IANS)