World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus in his most recent speech said the threat of COVID-19 rising to become epidemic is very real. If this happens, however, COVID-19 will be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled, he added.
WHO designed four categories where countries should be included. The first category is the countries with no cases, (second) with sporadic cases, (third) with cases in clusters, and (fourth) with community transmission. Even with different levels of categories, WHO said the goal is the same and that is to stop transmission and prevent the spread of the virus.
CHINA
The country where the epicenter of the outbreak was identified continued to report a low number of cases and deaths. As of March 10, China only has 20 new cases and 17 new deaths.
As situation eases, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit to Wuhan on Tuesday. The Hubei province was in lockdown since January and the president's first visit to Wuhan is the strongest sign so far that the situation in the country is now under control.
Meanwhile, to safeguard health workers in Wuhan, robots are now carrying out tasks that involve close contact with the patients. The robot's tasks include taking patients' temperatures, delivering meals and disinfecting the surrounding.
SOUTH KOREA
Local health officials are closely monitoring situations in small clusters such as workplaces and places of gathering. This was after the recent infections involved about 40 call center workers. Further, 90 out of 102 of infections in one of the provinces were all linked to a workshop for a Zumba class.
JAPAN
A jump in the number of cases in Japan now worries local health officials. There are now 59 new cases as of Tuesday. This has become the first instance where there is a big jump in the past 24 hours.
Japan has recorded 1,278 cases in total. But, of that number, 696 were from the Diamond Cruise ship.
SINGAPORE
Twelve patients are now in critical condition and being treated in the intensive care unit while another six more patients were confirmed on Tuesday. The country now has 166 total number of infections. Of that, 93 patients have recovered.
MALAYSIA
Tuesday saw 12 new cases in Malaysia, bringing the total to 129.
AUSTRALIA
The local government allocated $2.4 billion in its fight against the spread of the virus in the country. This amount will be spent on health packages, advertising campaigns to combat fake news, and telehealth consultations.
PHILIPPINES
There is rampant criticism against how the Duterte government is handling cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines. Many suspects that the government is not being honest in its reporting, with some saying the local health department failed in its monitoring.
The Philippines reported a sudden surge in the number of cases in the past five days, from 3 to 35. The health department said the spike in number is due to a renewed way of monitoring people who are suspected carriers of the virus.
VIETNAM
The country's spike in infections - from 16 to 32 - is linked to British citizens who traveled from London to Hanoi. The incident prompted the Vietnamese government to suspend visas on arrival for British citizens, as well as citizens of Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
NEW ZEALAND
There are no new cases in New Zealand for four consecutive days now. All four patients, including the first case of infection, are now being cared for at home. People with direct contact with the patients are also strictly being monitored.
CAMBODIA
The first COVID-19 Cambodian to have contracted the virus was confirmed this week. The patient is a 38-year-old man who had direct contact with a Japanese visitor. The said Japanese traveled from Cambodia through Siem Reap.
THAILAND
This week, Thailand served as a warning to other countries when local authorities found six people sorting out used face masks from the trash, washing them, ironing and then selling them anew. The main culprit in the group said they might have sold 200,000 used masks.
INDIA
As of March 10, there are 50 confirmed cases in India. Four of them have travel history to the US while another two having travel history in Dubai.
BHUTAN
An American tourist was the first person to bring COVID-19 to Bhutan. The patient is a 76-year-old man who has a travel history to India.
NEPAL
Nepal has no confirmed new cases apart from the Nepali student studying in China who returned home. The student has returned home from Wuhan, China in January. Still, 23 people are under strict monitoring.
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka canceled flights to Jeddah from March 15 to April 30 and China from March 10 to April 30.
Here are the cumulative number of cases and deaths per country in the Asian region as of March 10:
Western Pacific Region
Republic of Korea (total cases7513) (new cases 131) (total deaths 54) (new deaths 3)
Japan 514 - 26-9 -2
Singapore 160 -10- 0 -0
Malaysia 117- 24- 0- 0
Australia 92 -15 -3 -0
Philippines 33- 23- 1- 0
Viet Nam 31- 1 0- 0
New Zealand 5 -0 -0- 0
Cambodia 2 -0 -0- 0
Brunei Darussalam 1- 1 -0 -0
Mongolia 1- 1 -0
Southeast Asia Region
Thailand 53 3 1 0
India 44 1 0 0
Indonesia 19 13 0 0
Maldives 4 0 0 0
Bangladesh 3 0 0 0
Bhutan 1 0 0 0
Nepal 1 0 0 0
Sri Lanka 1 0 0 0
