Seoul tops up funds, as Abe looks ahead

SEOUL－South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday that his government will add about $46 billion to an economic stimulus package planned to help the country withstand the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Moon said the stimulus package was aimed at reinvigorating exports, bolstering domestic demand and supporting startups.

South Korea reported 53 more cases on Wednesday, raising the total number of infections to 10,384.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the government will temporarily suspend visa-free entry and visawaiver programs with 88 countries and expand entry restrictions on foreigners traveling for non-essential reasons.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he believed the state of emergency could be lifted in a month with citizens' cooperation as Tokyo and six other prefectures entered their first day of a "soft lockdown".

However, many have cast doubts on its effectiveness as there are no legal penalties for noncompliance on calls for people to stay home and businesses to shut.

Japan had recorded 4,538 infections and 98 deaths as of Wednesday.

Malaysia on Tuesday saw 170 newly confirmed cases, taking the total number to 3,963. Among those infected, 1,321 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

Wearing masks

In Israel, the health ministry said the country had signed a deal worth about $25.2 million with Chinese biotech giant BGI Genomics involving equipment and materials that can enable at least 10,000 coronavirus tests a day.

The ministry also announced on Tuesday that all those aged above six will be required to wear face masks outside their homes from Sunday. Total infections in the country have risen to 9,248, with 65 deaths.

In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday urged the International Monetary Fund to provide emergency funding, saying there should be "no discrimination in giving loans".

Iran's central bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote last month to the IMF to request $5 billion from the fund's Rapid Financing Initiative, an emergency program that aids countries faced with sudden shocks.

An IMF official has said the fund is in talks with Iranian authorities over the request.

The outbreak in Iran had killed 4,003 people and infected 67,286 by Wednesday.

For Africa, the number of cases topped 10,000 on Tuesday, spread over 52 countries. Shortages of protective gear are acute in many countries that have some of the world's most ill-equipped and poorly funded health systems. This is the case for South Sudan, which announced its second case on Tuesday.

South Africa's main health workers' union planned to challenge the government in court on Tuesday over shortages of protective gear for frontline staff as the country braced for a surge in novel coronavirus cases. By Tuesday, the number had reached 1,749, the most in the continent.

Wang Xu in Tokyo, Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.