HONG KONG, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Many Asia Pacific countries on Wednesday took stricter measures to fight the COVID-19 as the number of confirmed cases kept rising.
Japan will expand its entry ban to 73 countries and regions including the Americas and Africa in an effort to curb the continued rise in COVID-19 infections, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
Speaking at a meeting of a government task force on the country's response to the disease, Abe said the new ban will be imposed from Friday and remain effective until the end of the month.
Japan's health ministry and local governments said that 2,235 people had been infected with the COVID-19 virus in Japan as of 11:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with rising cases in urban areas prompting local authorities to request residents to restrict their movements.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that he will donate his seven months' salary to fight the COVID-19.
The Southeast Asian country has so far recorded a total of 109 confirmed cases of the COVID-19, with 25 patients cured.
Vietnam's Ministry of Transport issued an urgent document, ordering reduction of flights and suspension of road transportation, which requires trans- and inter-province and city coaches running on contracts, tourist buses, taxi and buses to be suspended for 15 days starting from Wednesday.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed a decree to declare a nationwide epidemic in Vietnam.
The decree came after the total confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 212 in Vietnam.
Nearly 8,500 people have been arrested in Sri Lanka for violating an islandwide curfew which has been in place in the country since March 20, the police said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Philippines recorded 227 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients in the country to 2,311.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 96 have died from COVID-19 and 50 have recovered.
The Philippine Medical Association said at least 17 doctors have succumbed to the disease.
Malaysia recorded a single day high of 108 recovered COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, marking the largest single day recovery rate, the Malaysian Health Ministry said.
Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that 142 new cases were confirmed Wednesday, adding to a total of 2,908 cases in the country.
The Indonesian government said on Wednesday that the death toll of the COVID-19 climbed to 157, the highest in Southeast Asia, with a total 1,677 cases in the country.
Thailand's Ministry of Public Health reported 120 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths, with the total number of confirmed cases in the country rising to 1,771 and death toll at 12.
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan rose to 2,039, with 26 deaths reported across the country, according to the newest data released on the website of the Health Ministry.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia is on the brink of surpassing 5,000, as the total number of cases has grown to 4,860, according to Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly.
The death toll from COVID-19 in India rose to 38 as the number of confirmed cases in the country reached 1,637, the federal health ministry said.
A government-run hospital in Indian capital city was shut down on Wednesday after a doctor tested positive for the COVID-19, local media reports said.
A total of 22 more positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Afghanistan, bringing the number of the patients to 196, Public Health Ministry's spokesman Wahidullah Mayar.
Bangladesh reported the sixth death from the COVID-19. Three more cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 54, according to Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
South Korea reported 101 more cases of the COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 9,887.
Three more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 165. The total fatality rate stood at 1.67 percent.
A total of 159 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 5,567.
