Live COVID-19 updates: Bangladesh sees highest single-day hike of death toll

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, May 21, 2020
Adjust font size:

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

- - - -

DHAKA -- Bangladesh saw the highest single-day hike of 22 deaths of COVID-19 patients Thursday.

Prof. Nasima Sultana, a senior health ministry official, told an online media briefing in Dhaka that "22 COVID-19 deaths including 19 men and three women were confirmed in a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country since March 18 to 408."

- - - -

MANILA -- The Philippine health department on Thursday reported that 213 more people have contracted the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 13,434.

In a daily bulletin, the Department of Health (DOH) said 68 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the number of recoveries to 3,000. It added that four more patients have died from the COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 846.

- - - -

MOSCOW -- Russia has confirmed 8,849 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 317,554, its coronavirus response center said in a statement Thursday.

The single-day increase has fallen below 10,000 for six consecutive days, the center's data showed.

- - - -

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia will chair a virtual senior officials' meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said on Thursday.

The meeting, scheduled for May 27, will focus on operationalization of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade statement on COVID-19 and will discuss issues related to economic recovery, while ensuring that the efforts already in place to mitigate the health impact of the outbreak continue to yield positive results, it said in a statement.

- - - -

KABUL -- Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Thursday reported 531 new positive cases of COVID-19 including 274 in capital Kabul over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of patients to 8,676 in the country, a spokesman for the ministry Tawhid Shakohmand said.

This was the highest daily increase since the outbreak in Afghanistan in February.

- - - -

BANGKOK -- Thailand's National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday called for a one-month extension to the emergency rule currently enforced against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, is scheduled to consider on Friday approving the NSC-proposed extension until the end of June.

- - - -

DHAKA -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a 250 million U.S. dollars loan to Bangladesh as the country grapples with the fallout of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The loan, co-financed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is part of a program to provide the government of Bangladesh with budget support to mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic on the country's poor and most vulnerable, particularly those affected by job losses in small and medium enterprises, as well as strengthen social safety nets, said the Beijing-based lender in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.

- - - -

BEIJING -- The China Association for Science and Technology has called on the country's sci-tech journal publishers to contribute to the COVID-19 database of the World Health Organization (WHO), sharing research data and experience to aid the fight against the pandemic.

The association released the initiative on its website Wednesday, saying that authorizing the WHO to use original metadata of Chinese COVID-19-related research papers is an effort to offer China's research progress and prevention experience more thoroughly and widely to global medical experts and scientists. Enditem

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
ChinaNews App Download
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter