HONG KONG, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Asia-Pacific countries hustled to shore up their economies amid concerns about the spreading COVID-19, with New Zealand unveiling a 7.36-billion-U.S.-dollar package and the Philippines becoming the first country to shut down its financial markets.
NEW ZEALAND
The New Zealand government on Tuesday launched "the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history" to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 and protect Kiwis' jobs and the domestic economy from the virus.
The 12.1-billion-NZ-dollar (7.36 billion U.S. dollars) package is worth 4 percent of the GDP, a larger plan than the one implemented in response to the global financial crisis.
"The government is pulling out all the stops to protect the health of New Zealanders and the health of our economy," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.
Three new COVID-19 cases were reported in New Zealand on Tuesday, bringing the country's total number to 11.
THE PHILIPPINES
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of national calamity for six months amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) shut down trading on Tuesday after the entire Luzon island, including Metro Manila, was placed under a 30-day "enhanced community quarantine" to slow down the spread of COVID-19.
PSE President Ramon Monzon said PSE decided to shut down the stock market to "ensure the safety of employees and traders in light of the escalating coronavirus disease."
According to a PSE memorandum, there will be no trading, clearing and settlement at the Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines until further notice.
The Philippines reported on Tuesday 45 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 187, and the number of deaths remains at 12.
The country will shut down all airports in the main Luzon Island starting Friday in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19, the Department of Transportation said on Tuesday.
AUSTRALIA
Australia's national carrier Qantas announced on Tuesday that it will cut international flights by 90 percent and domestic services by 60 percent to cope with COVID-19 disruptions.
"Travel demand is unlikely to rebound for weeks or possibly months and the impact of this will be felt across the entire workforce of 30,000 people," the company said.
The number of COVID-19 cases rose to over 375 in Australia on Tuesday, with further measures introduced to help the nation's battered economy endure ongoing major disruptions.
The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in Australia has increased over 25 percent in under 18 hours, and Health Minister Greg Hunt dismissed calls for Australia to declare a lockout.
JAPAN
Japan's top government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday that Japan will continue as planned with preparations to host the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as scheduled this summer.
The country's health ministry and local governments said the number of COVID-19 infections rose to 837 in Japan as of 6:30 p.m. local time, with 25 more cases reported on Tuesday.
The cases from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship were calculated separately.
The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at 36, with the figure including those from Diamond Princess that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea said Tuesday that it will impose tighter immigration procedures to people from all countries around the world to help prevent the imported cases of the COVID-19.
Vice Health Minister Kim Kang-lip told a press briefing that the tightened immigration procedures will be imposed on both South Korean and foreign nationals arriving from all countries beginning midnight Thursday local time.
South Korea's education ministry said Tuesday that it will delay this year's new school year by two more weeks to April 6 on worry about the COVID-19 outbreak.
South Korean stocks hit the lowest close in over eight years on Tuesday as worry deepened about the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak across the globe.
INDIA
India reported the third death from COVID-19 and the first in its financial capital of Mumbai on Tuesday.
"The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India is 125," a statement issued by India's federal ministry of health and family welfare said.
India's central bank governor on Monday announced measures to provide adequate liquidity in foreign exchange to counter the risk of coronavirus on the domestic economy.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia announced its first two deaths related to the COVID-19 outbreak on Tuesday as the total number of cases climbed to 673, according to the Health Ministry.
A total of 120 new cases were reported on Tuesday, with 95 of those being traced to a large scale religious event held near Kuala Lumpur from late February to early March, Health Minister Adham Baba said in a statement.
Malaysia is introducing comprehensive restrictive measures including closing shops and schools and imposing travel bans, in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced Monday.
These measures will be effective from March 18 to March 31.
In an evening televised address, Muhyiddin said the government had no choice but to implement the measures as the number of cases had spiked in recent days.
INDONESIA
As many as 38 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Indonesia, bringing the total number in the country to 172, the government's spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters Achmad Yurianto was quoted by state-owned television station TVRI as saying on Tuesday.
MALDIVES
The Maldives government has moved to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on jobs and businesses, local media quoted Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail as saying on Tuesday.
Ismail said his office was working with the Ministry of Finance to formulate a stimulus package that would provide working capital arrangements for small and medium-sized enterprises at concessional rates and conditions.
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka on Tuesday extended a public holiday by three days after 28 patients tested positive for COVID-19 and over 200 remained under observation, the government information department said.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) announced Monday that it would cut policy rates in order to support economic activity in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
THAILAND
Thailand's Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday warned of mass COVID-19 contagion, with 30 new cases as of Tuesday, raising the total cases in the country to 177.
The ministry said 11 of the new confirmed cases were related to a group of boxing fans, who had earlier tested positive for COVID-19 after being at the Lumpini boxing stadium.
BANGLADESH
Two new COVID-19 cases were reported in Bangladesh on Tuesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 10 in the country.
Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, head of the country's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) under the Health Ministry, told the press in Dhaka that one of the new patients is a Bangladeshi expatriate who is now undergoing treatment at a hospital.
LAOS
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has ordered the temporary closure of preschools and kindergartens from Tuesday across the country amid the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus in many countries.
The prime minister said on Monday that Laos is comprehensively ready to deal with the possible outbreak of COVID-19 especially in terms of personnel, medical equipment, and health facilities.
MYANMAR
Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi late on Monday called for people's participation in the government's ongoing efforts to fight the COVID-19.
To prevent the country from the economic fallout, tax relaxation and reduction of interest rate will be granted to the businesses which will likely be affected, including those in the cut-make-pack garment sector, hotels, the tourism industry and SMEs, she said.
CAMBODIA
Cambodia's Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that 12 more local people were tested positive for the COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to 24.
Cambodia temporarily banned all kinds of religious gatherings across the country, and decided to close all KTV or karaoke clubs and cinemas in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Health Minister Mam Bunheng said in a letter on Tuesday.
The minister also said the government decided to use the building of the bankrupt Great Duke hotel in Phnom Penh as the hospital for COVID-19 patients.
AFGHANISTAN
The number of confirmed cases in Afghanistan has soared to 22 as one new positive case has been confirmed in the western Herat province, Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Mayar said Tuesday.
A total of 37 suspected COVID-19 patients escaped from a hospital in the western Afghan province of Herat on Monday.
