A worker fills medical oxygen cylinders used in COVID-19 hospitals, in Prayagraj, India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, April 19, 2021. India's COVID-19 tally surpassed the 15-million mark, reaching 15,061,919, on Monday, revealed the latest data by the federal health ministry. There was an increase of 273,810 COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours. This is the third consecutive day when the country witnessed a single day spike of over 250,000 new cases. (Str/Xinhua)
HONG KONG, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Asia-Pacific countries as the tally in India reached 15,061,919 on Monday while the Philippines reported 9,628 new cases.
India's COVID-19 tally surpassed the 15-million mark, reaching 15,061,919, showed the latest data by the federal health ministry.
There was an increase of 273,810 COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours. This is the third consecutive day when the country witnessed a single day spike of over 250,000 new cases.
Besides, as many as 1,619 deaths took place since Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 178,769.
There are still a total of 1,929,329 active cases in the country, with an increase of 128,013 active cases through Sunday, as 12,953,821 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals across the country.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 9,628 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 945,745.
The death toll climbed to 16,048 after 88 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.
Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organization (WHO) country representative to the Philippines, urged high-income countries to share the COVID-19 vaccines with developing countries like the Philippines.
China was the first to deliver the COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines. Its donation of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccines arrived on Feb. 28, allowing the Philippines to start its mass vaccination on March 1.
The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 4,952 within one day to 1,609,300, with the death toll adding by 143 to 43,567, the Health Ministry said.
According to the ministry, 6,349 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,461,414.
Thailand registered 1,390 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths in the last 24 hours, the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said.
Thailand has so far confirmed a total of 104 fatalities and 43,742 infections of COVID-19, So far 28,787 patients have fully recovered and been released from hospitals while 14,851 others are currently hospitalized.
South Korea reported 532 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 114,646.
The daily caseload was down from 671 in the previous day, falling below 600 in six days owing to fewer virus tests over the weekend.
Four more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,801. The total fatality rate stood at 1.57 percent.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka reached 617 after one more death was reported, official statistics from the Health Ministry showed.
According to official figures, Sri Lanka has recorded 96,439 COVID-19 cases since the first local patient was detected in March last year, out of which 93,113 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 2,709.
Sri Lanka's Health Ministry has made it mandatory to wear face masks and maintain social distancing in public and anyone defying these laws may be arrested. Enditem
