KUALA LUMPUR -- "At least I have my immediate family with me and I have invited some friends. It is not so bad really. Of course, we are going to be busy with video calls all day," Kamarudin Ismail, a businessman based in the capital city Kuala Lumpur told Xinhua.

He said he would miss the large family gathering at his hometown in the northern Kedah state, which has been called off.

Malaysian Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr holiday in a very different way this year, dispensing with large scale gatherings and the customary Open House for smaller celebrations with immediate family members.

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WASHINGTON -- "(U.S. President Donald) Trump has repeatedly touted his decision in January to restrict travel from China as evidence that he acted decisively to contain the coronavirus," a report by The Washington Post said. "But it was his administration's response to the threat from Europe that proved more consequential to the majority of the more than 94,000 people who have died and the 1.6 million now infected in the United States."

The article said on Saturday that the White House's travel restrictions on Europe have prompted the crush of passengers from then COVID-19 epicenter and triggered a "final viral infusion" in the United States.

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UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said he welcomed the announcement by the Taliban and the Afghan government of a ceasefire to enable the Afghan people to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday in peace.

In a statement, the secretary-general urged all parties concerned to seize this opportunity and embrace an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

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NEW DELHI -- "As travel eases, cases will continue to rise. Surge in cases in areas of low transmission is mostly due to import from other areas. Syndromic Surveillance and Testing has to be strengthened at every level. Most parts of India are susceptible. To reduce mortality, detect every case," Dr. Giridhar R Babu, professor and head lifecourse epidemiology at Indian Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru wrote on social media.

India on Sunday reported 6,767 cases, another biggest single-day spike, in COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, pushing infection tally across the country to 131,868, federal health ministry said. Enditem

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