Coronavirus COVID-19: Laos, War-Torn Libya Report First Cases
Two new countries have reported their first cases of COVID-19 infection as of Wednesday night - Laos from the Western Pacific Region, and Libya from the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Globally, there is now 414,179 total number of cases as of March 25 with 40,712 new cases within 24 hours. 18,440 people have already died with 2,202 reported just within 24 hours.
Laos' first two cases of COVID-19 infection involved a 28-year0old male hotel worker and a 36-year-old female tour guide. The two individuals have travel histories and mostly interacted with foreigners.
The Western Pacific Region now has 97,766 confirmed cases and 1,186 new cases; deaths are at 3,518 and new fatalities at 16.
Many nations in the region are just realizing the magnitude of the virus this month as they continue to witness the rapid acceleration of infections. The story, however, is different for China and South Korea.
China, which was the epicenter of the outbreak and suffered racism at that, is restarting life slowly again. A portion of the Great Wall of China is now open again for tourists. The attraction was closed in January at the height of the outbreak in the country.
Now, the Badaling section has just reopened but is allowing a limited number of tourists. Some zoos in Beijing have also reopened.
In South Korea, the second most-hard country in the Western Pacific Region is seeing more people recovering from the virus compared to those who are losing the fight. As of Wednesday night, five people died while 414 were treated.
War-torn Libya in the Eastern Mediterranean region meanwhile confirmed its first case of the COVID-19. The patient was a 73-year-old man who traveled from Saudi Arabia.
The risk of the pandemic, however, was not enough for warring parties in the country's civil war to announce a ceasefire. In fact, Commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, advanced into the city's capital with airstrikes.
Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates, France, and Russia. On the other side is the Tripoli authority which is backed by Turkey.
Anas el-Gomati, a scholar at the Sadeq Institute, believed the warring parties are actually exploiting the pandemic.
The whole of the Eastern Mediterranean Region now has 29,631 of total cases. 2,416 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours; 2008 people have died with new deaths reported on Wednesday at 131.
Iran, which is the worst-hit nation in the regions, now worries about the second wave of the COVID-19 infections. Officials say people don't coordinate with lockdown measures in place hence, continuing to spread the virus in the country. The officials have since banned all inter-cities travel and violators will be arrested.