#0337 – COVID-19 Live Updates: US Death Toll Tops 4,000 As UN Says World Could Face Worst Crisis Since WW2

aiwan will send 10 million protective masks to countries with an unfavorable epidemiological situation to support medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday.

“Taiwan should not stand aside and will actively strengthen cooperation with other countries in the field of preventing and combating the epidemic. Taiwan is ready to assist the international community in the form of masks, medicines and technologies,” Tsai said.

According to her, the current daily production of protective masks in Taiwan is about 13 million, but in the near future it will be 15 million.

“Taiwan will send 10 million masks to support medical personnel in countries with serious epidemiological situations and will subsequently provide additional support based on production capacities,” the president said.

As of Wednesday, nearly 860,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, and over 42,300 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Russian consumer health protection watchdog on Wednesday decreed that citizens must keep the distance of one meter, or 3.2 feet, from one another amid the spread of the coronavirus infection.

In addition, Chief Sanitary Physician Anna Popova has ordered regional authorities to ensure that all people older than 65 with signs of respiratory infections are tested for COVID-19.

Mainland China has registered 36 new coronavirus cases, seven fatalities and 130 asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers over the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

“The National Health Commission has received information from 31 provinces … about 81,554 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection, including 2,004 who are still ill (466 people are in serious condition), 76,238 people who have been discharged from hospitals, and 3,312 who have died,” the сommission reported.

The statistics thereby shows that 93.5 percent of all those infected have recovered.

The commission has also started reporting figures on asymptomatic cases since Wednesday. Over the past 24 hours, the country has detected 130 asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. A total of 1,367 of such people remain under medical supervision.

Over the given period, one imported COVID-19 case and six fatalities have been registered in Hubei, the province where the virus was first detected in China.

In total, the province has 1,283 active cases, with 435 people being in serious condition.

Separately, Hong Kong accounts for a total of 714 cases and four fatalities, and Macao for 41 cases. Taiwan has confirmed a total of 322 cases, including five deaths.

The number of people who had contracted the new coronavirus disease in Mexico has increased by 121 to 1,215 over the past 24 hours, Jose Luis Alomia, the Health Ministry’s director of epidemiology, said.

“To date we have confirmed 1,215 cases. One patient have died bringing the total death toll to 29,” Alomia said on Tuesday.

A day before, the authorities reported about 1,094 confirmed coronavirus cases and 28 deaths.

According to the data, doctors are currently examining 3,511 suspected COVID-19 cases and have received 6,282 negative coronavirus tests. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell praised citizens’ compliance with the sanitary recommendations of the authorities and especially voluntary self-isolation.

On Monday, Mexico declared a health emergency, which would be in force until 30 April, and imposed stricter self-isolation rules.

Argentine police have detained nearly 20,000 people for violating quarantine rules imposed in light of the coronavirus pandemic, national media reported on Wednesday.

The self-isolation regime in the country has been in place since March 20. The measures were meant to expire on March 31, but were extended through April 12.

As of Tuesday, a total of 19,939 people have been detained and 1,597 vehicles have been impounded for violating the quarantine rules since March 20, according to the Argentine TN channel.

In Argentina, people are now required to obtain a special permit to travel by personal vehicle. Otherwise, one can face a fine or have their car seized until the end of the quarantine.

Argentina has so far confirmed 1,054 COVID-19 cases, including 27 deaths.

South Korea has registered 101 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), 159 people have recovered over the past 24 hours, the overall number of confirmed cases has risen to 9,887, the Health Ministry’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

The KCDC said the death toll had risen by three to 165 people.

The number of recovered people now stands at 5,567.