Classes resume in South Korea; Kenya cases rise

SEOUL－South Korean students began returning to classes on Wednesday even as the country counted a further 32 coronavirus cases.

It was the first time in nine days the daily increase exceed 30, raising the total number of infections to 11,110.

Hundreds of thousands of high school seniors were allowed to return to classes under new rules: temperature checks before entering school and masks at all times. Some schools installed plastic partitions at each desk.

The Education Ministry said lower-level students are set to go back in phases in coming weeks.

In Japan, the climbing season for Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak, has been canceled for this year, after local officials announced on Monday that the mountain trails leading up to the summit would stay closed throughout the summer.

Shizuoka Prefecture, which manages three of the four trails that lead to the peak, made the announcement on Monday, following a similar announcement by a neighboring prefecture that manages the fourth trail.

This is the first time since record-keeping started that Shizuoka did not open its trails for the climbing season, said Yoshinari Nushida, a section chief for the Mount Fuji public work office.

Japan had seen 16,394 cases and 773 deaths as of Tuesday night.

Three phases

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore will exit the current COVID-19 Circuit Breaker measures and resume banned activities in three phases starting from June 2, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

Singapore started what it calls the Circuit Breaker on April 7, when all non-essential workplaces were closed temporarily.

Phase one will be implemented from June 2, when economic activities that do not pose a high risk of transmission will first be resumed. People should continue to leave home only for essential activities, and should wear a mask when doing so.

As of noon on Tuesday, Singapore had reported 28,794 cases.

In India, the country might welcome a malaria drug that US President Donald Trump has taken to help fend off the coronavirus.

Although some local pharmacists said Trump's announcement shouldn't carry any weight in India, the policy on the decades-old drug changed drastically.

India's health ministry quickly approved it as a prophylactic for healthcare workers and others at high risk of infection, and as a treatment for critically ill patients.

In Africa, Kenya's COVID-19 cases are creeping toward the 1,000 mark, with the rising infections jolting citizens into a reality that they have to sustain containment measures.

The rise means the disease is active and spreading in the community, said Patrick Amoth, the director-general at Kenya's Ministry of Health.

Kenya on Tuesday recorded 51 more cases, pushing the total tally to 963.

As of Monday evening, Rwanda had registered 297 cases, with 203 patients recovering.

Xinhua - Agencies