HONG KONG, Oct 17 (NNN-XINHUA) – Sri Lanka issued a gazette on new COVID-19 precautions, local media reported, as the quarantine capacity in Australia was expanded to repatriate citizens stranded overseas.
Sri Lanka’s Health Minister, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, signed a special gazette notification, on the implementation of COVID-19 precautions, including wearing face masks, maintaining social distance and hand hygiene, as the country faces a rise in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, announced a plan to repatriate tens of thousands of citizens stranded overseas.
Under the plan, the Howard Springs facility, southeast of Darwin, in the Northern Territory (NT), will be used to quarantine 5,000, who return from Britain, India and South Africa, over the next five to six months.
India’s COVID-19 tally reached 7,370,468, and death toll 112,161, as 63,371 new cases and 895 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours across the country, said the latest data released by the health ministry.
Japan confirmed 613 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nation’s cumulative total to 92,138 cases, not including those related to a ship that was quarantined near Tokyo earlier in the year.
Afghanistan reported 62 new cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 40,088, the country’s Ministry of Public Health said.
“Within the past 24 hours, 425 suspected cases were tested, out of which 62 cases were tested positive in 10 provinces of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces,” the ministry said in a statement.
The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia increased by 4,301 in the past 24 hours, to 353,461 with 12,347 deaths, the Health Ministry said.
According to the ministry, 79 more deaths were recorded during the same period, and 3,883 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 277,544.
Laos’ National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said, it has been monitoring 2,621 people across the country over COVID-19 concerns.
The Philippines reported 3,139 new daily cases, pushing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 351,750.
South Korea reported 47 more cases, compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 25,035.
The daily caseload fell below 100, after recording 110 in the previous day, but the double-digit expansion continued, owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province.
New Zealand reported four imported cases from managed isolation.
There is one suspected historical case currently being investigated, which is not included in yesterday’s reporting numbers, according to the Ministry of Health.– NNN-XINHUA
