BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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BUJUMBURA -- The government of Burundi on Monday launched a second nationwide mass screening campaign of COVID-19, as the coronavirus cases have been increasing in recent days.

The 30-day campaign is taking place in the commercial capital Bujumbura and several provinces where cases have been reported.

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday that King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has consented to declaring a state of emergency in the country to stop the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a televised speech, Muhyiddin said the emergency would last till Aug. 1 or earlier depending on the COVID-19 situation.

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SYDNEY -- Australia's biggest city of Sydney recorded five locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, as authorities urged the public to get tested and increase openness and transparency with contact tracers.

Two of the cases were flagged on Monday, and involved a man who attended a hospital emergency department and his household contact, with investigations continuing into how they contracted the disease.

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VIENTIANE -- Local authorities have been urged to monitor border crossings to prevent people from entering Laos illegally from Thailand, to stem the spread of COVID-19 after a widespread outbreak in Thailand.

Many Lao workers are returning home from Thailand, both legally and illegally, sparking fears of a second wave of COVID-19 in Laos, local daily Vientiane Times on Tuesday quoted Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepaserd Sayamounkhoung as saying.

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SHIJIAZHUANG -- North China's Hebei Province reported 40 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 asymptomatic cases on Monday, the provincial health commission said Tuesday.

Of the confirmed cases, 39 were reported in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and the other one in the city of Langfang. Among them, two were previously asymptomatic carriers.

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LA PAZ -- Bolivian Minister of Public Works, Services and Housing, Edgar Montano, tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the third member in President Luis Arce's cabinet to catch the virus, the government said Monday.

Montano is in stable condition and isolated under medical supervision, according to the ministry. Enditem

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