BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious disease.
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JAKARTA -- Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has approved the proposal by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on large-scale social distancing to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
After that, the Jakarta administration can take any restrictive measures deemed necessary to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said Tuesday.
"It was signed by the Health Minister last night (Monday)," the Head of Media and Public Opinion at the Health Ministry, Busroni, was quoted by online media Detik.com as saying.
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TRIPOLI -- A United Nations official condemned a recent attack on a hospital in the Libyan capital Tripoli, noting it is "unacceptable" amid the global public health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am appalled to have learned that heavy shelling hit Tripoli's Al Khadra General Hospital today, injuring at least one health worker and damaging the fully-functioning medical facility," Yacoub El Hillo, UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Libya, said in a statement.
"The repeated calls by the United Nations and the international community for a cessation of hostilities have only been met with complete disregard and intensified fighting. This is unacceptable at a time when healthcare and health workers are vital in our fight against a global pandemic," the statement said.
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SEOUL -- South Korea has reported 47 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 17 imported cases, bringing the country's total tally of coronavirus infections to 10,331.
Meanwhile, six more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 192. The total fatality rate came in at 1.86 percent.
Official data also showed 96 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 6,694. The total recovery rate was 64.8 percent.
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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand reported 32 newly confirmed cases and an additional 22 probable cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing its total tally of confirmed and probable infections to 1,160.
One person has died from COVID-19 so far, and 241 people have recovered, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield from the Ministry of Health said at a press conference.
Twelve COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals across New Zealand, with one patient in a critical condition in ICU, Bloomfield said.
New Zealand entered a four-week lockdown, or epidemic response Alert Level 4, on March 26. The State of National Emergency to support the COVID-19 response is expected to extend for a second time, for a further seven days.
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CAPE TOWN -- South Africa on Monday reported 31 more confirmed COVID-19 cases amid a massive community testing, raising the total tally to 1,686 with 12 deaths, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
The rise in coronavirus cases came as the country was rolling out massive community testing.
As of Monday, 58,098 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
South Africa, which reported its first case on March 5, has the largest number of coronavirus cases on the African continent.
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LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken to intensive care on Monday night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Downing Street said.
Johnson has asked British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him, a Downing Street spokesman said.
The prime minister, 55, was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in London with "persistent symptoms" on Sunday night, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus.
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WASHINGTON -- A second U.S. company is poised to begin safety test of a vaccine against COVID-19 on Monday.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals said Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for INO-4800, its DNA vaccine candidate designed to prevent COVID-19 infection, paving the way for Phase 1 clinical testing in healthy volunteers beginning this week.
The Phase 1 study will enroll up to 40 healthy adult volunteers in Philadelphia and Kansas City, where screening of potential participants has already begun, said the company.
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GENEVA -- World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said here on Monday that Africa will not become testing ground for any vaccines against COVID-19.
"Africa cannot and will not be a testing ground for any vaccine. We will follow all the rules to test any vaccine or therapeutics all over the world using exactly the same rule, whether it's in Europe, Africa or wherever," Tedros told a virtual briefing in Geneva.
"Appalled" by comments made last week by some scientists, who said the testing ground for the new vaccines will be Africa, Tedros said "the hangover from a colonial mentality has to stop."
