- Nearly two months after ordering Italians to stay home in an effort to slow one of the worst outbreaks of the new coronavirus in the world, the government on Monday cautiously eased a few restrictions, while keeping many others in place.
- Iran on Monday reopened mosques in parts of the country deemed at low risk from coronavirus, as it said almost 80,000 people hospitalised with the illness had recovered and been released. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 74 new fatalities brought to 6,277 the total number officially recorded in Iran since it reported its first cases in mid-February.
- China’s Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi recently called on Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma and met various leaders seeking the Himalayan nation’s support against International efforts to politicise the issue of COVID-19 pandemic, as many countries including the United States are trying to hold it accountable for the deadly virus.
- Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday extended a nationwide state of emergency to May 31, saying the new coronavirus infection rate had yet to drop enough to justify ending measures aimed at slowing the outbreak.
- Nearly 4,800 Indian nationals, most of whom are living in dormitories for foreign workers, have been tested positive with the novel coronavirus in Singapore till the end of April, the Indian High Commissioner here said on Monday.The total number of coronavirus cases in Singapore are 18,205 with 18 deaths, according to the figures released by Singapore Health Ministry on Sunday.
- China still faced the risk of a rebound in COVID-19 cases as 10 provincial-level regions have reported new locally-transmitted coronavirus cases over the last two weeks, a top health official warned on Monday.The National Health Commission (NHC) said that three new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday. All three were Chinese arriving from abroad. Also, 13 new asymptomatic cases, including two imported ones, were reported.