India becomes 2nd worst coronavirus-hit country

COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise sharply in some Asia-Pacific countries as India overtook Brazil to become the second hardest-hit country in the world on Monday, while cases rose to 327,359 in Bangladesh, reported Xinhua.

A single-day spike of 90,802 COVID-19 cases was witnessed in India over the past 24 hours, while 1,016 more deaths took place, showed the latest data released by the country's health ministry.

The total COVID-19 tally reached 4,204,613 and the total death toll swelled to 71,642 in the country.

There has been a sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past few days, mainly attributed to the ramping of sample testing across the country. India is now the second worst COVID-hit country in the world after the United States, surpassing Brazil.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 2,880 within one day to 196,989, with the death toll adding by 105 to 8,130, the health ministry said.

According to the ministry, 2,077 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 140,652.

Bangladesh reported 2,202 new COVID-19 cases and 37 new deaths, making the tally at 327,359 and death toll at 4,516, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 224,573 including 3,298 new recoveries, said the DGHS.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.38 percent and the current recovery rate is 68.60 percent.

The COVID-19 cases in Philippines have surged to 238,727 with 1,383 new cases reported, the lowest since July 14 when the number of the country's daily infections was record at 634.

This also marks the third consecutive day in which less than 3,000 new cases were reported.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) said 15 more patients had died from the disease, bringing the death toll to 3,890.

South Korea reported 119 more cases of the COVID-19 as of 0:00 a.m. Monday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 21,296.

The daily caseload stayed below 200 for five straight days, but it continued to grow in triple digits since Aug. 14.

Two more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 336. The total fatality rate stood at 1.58 percent.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Maldives had crossed the 8,500 mark, local media reported.

Maldives' Health Protection Authority (HPA) said that 98 new cases of COVID-19, including 72 locals and 26 foreigners, were confirmed on Sunday, pushing the country's total cases to 8,584.

So far, 5,936 people have fully recovered from the virus, while 29 have died.

Afghanistan reported 96 new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 38,494 cases, the country's Ministry of Public Health confirmed.

Three COVID-19 patients succumbed to the virus, taking the number of people who lost their lives to 1,415 since the outbreak of the pandemic in February.

The number of people recovered stands at 30,557 after 20 patients recovered during the period and 93 patients remained in severe condition, according to the statement.

Tokyo reported 77 new daily COVID-19 cases, marking the first time the daily tally has dropped below the 100-mark since Aug. 24.

According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, the capital's cumulative total of infections now stands at 21,849, the highest among Japan's 47 prefectures.

The preliminary figures released by the local government also showed that the number of patients in hospital designated as "severely ill" totaled 24, three less than reported on Sunday.

Malaysia reported 62 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Monday, bringing the national total to 9,459, with most of the new cases coming from a cluster involving detainees.

Of the new cases, six are imported and 56 are local transmissions including 50 new cases in the northern Borneo state of Sabah, mainly affecting prisoners and detainees, Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement.

Myanmar reported 45 more new COVID-19 confirmed cases on Monday morning, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.

The newly-confirmed cases brought the total number of infections in the country to 1,464.

Due to the recent increasing number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the country, the Myanmar government late Sunday announced only half of its staff to attend the offices on a rotational basis starting from Wednesday.

According to the ministry, 385 patients have recovered from the disease.

New Zealand confirmed four new cases of COVID-19, which included two imported cases detected in managed isolation facilities.

There are two new cases in the community both linked to the Auckland cluster in August, said a ministry statement.

The country's total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now 1,425, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization, it added.