Virus slowdown delivers relief

SEOUL－The pace of daily new cases of the novel coronavirus in South Korea appears to be slowing, but alarming small-sized cluster infections have still been reported across the country, putting health authorities on edge.

The country reported 96 more new coronavirus cases on Monday afternoon, taking its total infections to 7,478, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or KCDC, said.

The updated numbers added to the 69 recorded earlier in the day, showing the rate of increase slowed to its lowest in recent days.

Starting on Tuesday, the KCDC said it will announce the daily number of new infections once a day in the morning.

Health authorities have completed extensive testing of 210,000 adherents of the religious sect Shincheonji who have been at the center of the rapid spread, but authorities are still on high alert over new clusters of infections, Yonhap News Agency said.

Vice-Health Minister Kim Ganglip said in a daily briefing that the spread of the novel coronavirus is pointing to a slowdown, but the number of sporadic cases outside Daegu and North Gyeongsang, two epicenters of the outbreak, is growing. "It's a time when we should focus on making all-out efforts to decrease the number of new infections," Kim said.

State of emergency mulled

This week Japan is set to revise a law allowing the prime minister to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus, if needed, as Shinzo Abe faces persistent criticism for his handling of the outbreak as the Tokyo Olympic Games approach.

Abe has come under fire for what critics have called an initial lack of leadership, followed by abrupt steps such as school closures that left parents and employers scrambling.

Commentators have also said Japan was too slow to put curbs on visitors from infected areas and has lacked sufficient capacity to test for the virus, while failing to mobilize what capacity it has, leading to suspicions that the virus is spreading faster than data show.

According to the data compiled by local governments, the number of confirmed infections in Japan had increased to 495 by Monday afternoon, after 15 more cases were reported earlier in the day.

On Tuesday the government plans to submit to parliament a bill to revise a 2012 law, enacted after a 2009 epidemic, so it can be applied to the coronavirus if necessary. Parliament is expected to approve the bill on Friday.

In Iran, the Health Ministry said on Monday that 595 new cases had been recorded, bringing the number in the country to 7,161. 237 people have died from the novel coronavirus.

Confirmed cases in the Asia-Pacific region have continued to increase, the first three positive cases being reported in Bangladesh on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Singapore reported 12 new cases, bringing the total to 150. Malaysia reported six new cases, bringing the total to 99. Vietnam confirmed nine more new cases, bringing the total to 30.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to the story.