Response scaled up in Japan

TOKYO－A prefecture in central Japan has become the latest to go into a state of emergency as nationwide concerns over the coronavirus intensify.

The governor of Aichi, which includes the city of Nagoya and also hosts Toyota Motor Corp, said on Thursday that he would declare a state of emergency for his prefecture on Friday.

His decision comes two days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally imposed a state of emergency on seven prefectures. However, Aichi was not included in Abe's list despite having the fifth-highest number of infections among Japan's prefectures.

Japan recorded 520 new cases on Thursday, taking the national total to 5,492 by press time.

Meanwhile, Thailand on Thursday confirmed 54 new coronavirus cases and two more deaths, taking the country's total infections to 2,423.

Separately, Indonesia confirmed on Thursday its biggest daily jump in coronavirus infections, with 337 new cases taking the total to 3,293.

In India, hundreds of millions of people in the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and the state of Uttar Pradesh were ordered on Wednesday to wear face masks or coverings in public spaces as India's official number of cases rose above 5,200, including 149 deaths.

In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that the International Monetary Fund's rejection of Iran's application for a loan to fight the novel coronavirus was "unacceptable" and "unfair".

Iran has asked the IMF for a $5 billion loan. However, reports said on Wednesday that the United States had blocked Iran's request for the emergency loan from the IMF.

COVID-19 has infected 66,220 and killed 4,110 people in Iran as of Thursday.

Curfew extension

In Iraq, the second batch of Chinese medical aid arrived on Wednesday in Baghdad as part of China's assistance in fighting the virus. Iraq has reported a total of 1,202 cases and 69 deaths.

In Egypt, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the extension of the nationwide night curfew that started on March 25 for another two weeks until April 23. Egypt reported 110 new cases on Thursday, taking its total number to 1,560.

In Australia, the country's Parliament passed the government's wage subsidy scheme on Wednesday, allowing an estimated six million eligible workers who have had their work status affected by the pandemic to receive fortnightly payments of A$1,500 ($930) for about six months.

As for New Zealand, it 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. The tally of infections there rose to 1,239 on Thursday.

In South Africa, the authorities reported on Wednesday five more deaths from the coronavirus, the highest number in a single day. The total number of infections was at 1,845.

In a related development, the World Bank said on Thursday that 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.

Africa has over 10,000 confirmed cases and around 50 deaths so far.

Xinhua - Agencies