The public health department office in Southern Thailand’s Yala Province has verified 40 new covid-19 cases after thorough testing. The cases include those recently returned for Ramadan from neighbouring countries. Provincial health department chief Songkran Maichum said on Sunday that intense testing since April 20 had uncovered 40 new cases, now confirmed in lab results. Four new cases were found in …

The number of dead in Italy surpassed those in China, which again reported no new cases in the outbreak’s initial epicentre. India urged its 1.3 billion citizens to stay indoors and barred all flights from overseas for a week. The US warned Americans not to travel abroad and recommended that those who are overseas come home. US Senate majority leader …

The Svay Rieng administration hall has officially announced the cancellation of the Angkor Sankranta Festival, a four-day celebration of the Khmer New Year held in April, as Covid-19 fears mount in the kingdom. The province is the second to do so following Siem Reap province’s cancellation earlier this month. “All public officials and citizens must be notified the Angkor Sankranta …

Thailand is preparing to restrict some aspects of daily life after the country’s biggest spike in coronavirus cases, further damaging one of Asia’s weakest economic outlooks. The steps to be considered Monday include placing more curbs on foreign arrivals, cancelling events with big crowds and closing entertainment venues deemed risky for spreading the virus. Confirmed cases jumped by 32 on …

Thailand’s aviation regulator said airlines should ask passengers coming from high-risk territories for health certificates to establish they are free of the new coronavirus. Travellers who can’t provide documentation should be prevented from boarding flights to the Asian nation, according to a Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand notice posted Monday. Carriers are liable for treatment costs if they fly in …

Twitter staff across the world were asked to work from home starting Monday in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly new coronavirus epidemic. The outbreak has spread across the world since emerging in central China late last year, killing more than 3,100 people, infecting over 90,000, and prompting a wave of travel restrictions. The social media platform’s …

Nigeria’s economic hub Lagos confirmed a case of new coronavirus on Friday, stirring memories of the fears sparked six years ago when West Africa’s Ebola epidemic hit the chaotic megacity of 20 million. The health minister said the first confirmed case of the virus in sub-Saharan Africa was an Italian citizen who had returned from Milan earlier this week. “The …

The new coronavirus epidemic swelled on Wednesday with cases in South Korea surging past 1,000 after deaths soared in Iran and infections appeared in previously untouched countries, prompting dire warnings that the world was not ready to contain it. The virus has rapidly spread in parts of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, even as the number of deaths and …