BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against the common threat of COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 180 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious illness.
- - - -
DHAKA -- Following the rise of COVID-19 positive cases in the country, the Bangladeshi government has declared a public holiday from March 26 to April 4 except for entities providing essential services.
Bangladeshi Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam made the announcement at a press conference in Dhaka on Monday, saying, "Army would be deployed to assist local administration as all the government and the private offices in the country will be closed from March 26 to April 4."
- - - -
WASHINGTON -- U.S. first lady Melania Trump has tested for the coronavirus and the result is negative, President Donald Trump told reporters Monday at the White House.
"She's fine," Trump said when asked at a news briefing about the first lady's condition. "Negative, yes."
- - - -
TRIPOLI -- The Health Ministry of Libya's UN-backed government said Monday that China has offered to train Libyan doctors to tackle any possible coronavirus infections.
"The Ministry of Health of the Government of National Accord, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has received an offer by its counterpart in China to hold an international training program to introduce experts in Libya to the protocols used by China in diagnosing and treating cases of the novel coronavirus," the Health Ministry said in a statement.
- - - -
HONG KONG -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will ban the entry of all non-Hong Kong residents arriving from overseas by flights starting from Wednesday to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Monday.
For the 14 days since 12:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) on Wednesday, Hong Kong will deny the entry of all non-Hong Kong residents arriving from overseas by flights, as well as those who have been to overseas in the past 14 days and arriving in Hong Kong through the mainland, Macao SAR and the Taiwan region, Lam said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.
- - - -
BEIJING -- Chinese health authority said Tuesday it received reports of 78 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland on Monday, of which 74 were imported from abroad.
Of the imported cases, 31 were reported in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, nine in Shanghai, five in Fujian, four in Tianjin, three in Jiangsu, two in Zhejiang and Sichuan respectively. Shanxi, Liaoning, Shandong and Chongqing each reported one case. By the end of Monday, 427 imported cases had been reported, according to the National Health Commission.
- - - -
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday that 313,000 coronavirus tests have been completed in the United States, and more than 41,000 tests were positive.
During a White House press briefing, Pence said all state and hospital labs are now required to report their coronavirus test numbers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
