The coronavirus situation in Asia has yet to completely be controlled despite declining numbers in most areas across the region. Most of the new cases in some nations are also imported, raising concerns about the risks of allowing overseas travel.
Mainland China Reports New Imported Cases
On Wednesday, China's National Health Commission announced that 10 new COVID-19 cases were detected in the mainland, with six of them being imported cases.
According to Xinhua, the commission added that there are now a total of 1,616 imported cases in the country. 793 of the said imported cases are still receiving treatment and 823 have already recovered and have since been discharged.
The country also has 166 patients who have travel history outside China that are considered as suspected asymptomatic cases. They are now under medical observation for appropriate monitoring on whether they will display any symptoms in the coming days.
As of Wednesday, mainland China reported 82,798 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,632 deaths.
South Korea Reports Single-Digit New Cases
Half of South Korea's eight new cases on Thursday were imported cases, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) revealed, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
The new single-digit figure of new COVID-19 cases in the country marks a massive turnaround from when the South Korean government reported a peak of 909 infected patients in a single day in February.
Despite the significant decline in new cases in the country, the government's social distancing regulations are still in place until May 5.
As of Thursday, South Korea has recorded 10,702 confirmed coronavirus cases and 240 deaths. It also has carried out 583,971 COVID-19 tests.
North Korea to Receive Protective Clothing from S.Korea
North Korean frontliners are set to receive protective clothing from South Korea following the approval of an aid organization's plan to send in some protective gear, an official at the unification ministry confirmed.
Some health experts have been raising concerns about North Korea's coronavirus situation as the reclusive country has been insisting that it has not recorded any COVID-19 infections among its citizens.
The official has yet to confirm when the gear will be delivered to the North amid a standstill in the efforts to unify the two Koreas.
Experts Urge Japan to Carry Out More Tests
Health experts are calling on the Japanese government to start testing more people amid the coronavirus outbreak that saw a spike in new COVID-19 cases in the country despite an initial decline.
So far, over 130,000 tests have been conducted in Japan, Kyodo News reported. However, medical experts and researchers believe more tests should be carried out as new cases spike and clusters are being detected.
Experts noted that more widespread testing is necessary if the government wants to prevent an explosion of new cases when asymptomatic patients start unknowingly infecting others.
Japan has so far logged 11,512 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 281 deaths.
Over 1,000 New Cases in Singapore
Singapore was lauded on the early stages of the global coronavirus outbreak for its capabilities in controlling the spread of the highly-infectious strain. However, things have changed since February, when the COVID-19 situation in the city-state appeared to be contained.
According to Channel News Asia, Singapore on Thursday recorded 1,037 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 11,178, marking the second day that the city-state registered over 1,000 infections in one day.
The Singaporean Ministry of Health (MOH) clarified that most of the new cases were among work permit holders who were residents of foreign work dormitories.
Despite the spike in new cases, Singapore only saw 12 fatalities from the COVID-19 strain. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced earlier this week that the "circuit breaker" period for the coronavirus outbreak in the city-state will be extended until June 1.
