HONG KONG, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases surged in some Asia-Pacific countries on Thursday as India, Japan's capital, and Australian State of Victoria reported the highest daily spike of new cases.
India's federal health ministry Thursday morning recorded 606 new deaths and 32,695 more COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 24,915 and total cases to 968,876.
This is said to be the highest single day spike in the number of fresh cases in the country so far.
The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients increased to 63.25 percent. The ministry said 612,815 patients had been cured and 331,146 were under active medical supervision, as the recovery rate stood at 63.25 percent.
Bangladesh registered 39 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the country's death toll to around 2,500.
Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing that "2,733 new COVID-19 positive cases and 39 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."
"The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 196,323, while fatalities stood at 2,496," she said, adding that the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh stood at 1.27 percent.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 61,266 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,498 new cases.
The death toll also increased to 1,643 after 29 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH said.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said late on Wednesday that Metro Manila will remain under general community quarantine until July 31 despite the steady spike of coronavirus cases in the capital, home to about 15 million people.
The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 1,574 within one day to 81,668, with the death toll adding by 76 to 3,873, Achmad Yurianto, a health ministry official, told a press conference.
According to him, 1,295 more people had been discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 40,345.
The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed a record 286 new infections in the capital, with the latest figure surpassing the previous daily record of 243 cases reported last Friday.
The metropolitan government amid a recent uptick in cases has raised its coronavirus alert level to the highest on its four tier scale.
The latest rise in cases brings Tokyo's cumulative total to 8,640 COVID-19 cases, the highest among the nation's 47 prefectures and accounting for more than one-third of all cases nationwide, official figures showed Thursday.
The Australian state of Victoria recorded its biggest daily increase of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began, with 317 confirmed cases.
Victoria is the center of a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia, with close to 2,800 new infections for the state in July alone.
According to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, 289 of Thursday's cases remained under investigation by health experts, while 28 were connected to known clusters.
Andrews also revealed that two men in their 80s had died after contracting the virus, taking the national death toll to 113.
Fourteen more U.S. soldiers and their family members tested positive for COVID-19 amid rising concerns about imported cases, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday.
The total number of infections among the USFK-affiliated personnel rose to 88, according to Yonhap news agency.
It came amid growing concerns about the imported cases. In the latest tally, South Korea reported 61 more COVID-19 cases for the past 24 hours, raising the combined number of infections to 13,612.
Malaysia reported three new COVID-19 infections, bringing the national total to 8,737, the Health Ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) scheduled from March next year, has been cancelled over concerns related to the outbreak, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Enditem
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