Slowly but surely, numerous countries are following the lead of the central Chinese ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wuhan, by starting to gradually end their lockdown restrictions.Here is an overview:IndiaAlthough India’s national lockdown has been extended until 3 May, on Monday (20 April), workers in key sectors were allowed to go back to work.They include those in agriculture, some manufacturing and construction industries, which employ millions of poorer Indians.GermanyGermany on Mo

Myanmar shipped hundreds of recently released Rohingya inmates back to the country's restive western borderlands on Monday (20 April), after fears that its overcrowded prisons could become hotbeds for runaway coronavirus outbreaks.Men, women and children belonging to the stateless and long-persecuted Muslim minority were among nearly 25,000 prisoners freed last week by a presidential pardon to mark the country's April New Year celebrations.A Navy vessel transported the group from Ya

Just last week, a special online summit was held among Southeast Asia’s leaders to discuss strategies that could be taken at a regional level to combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The new coronavirus has infected over two million people and killed more than 150,000 worldwide. Governments have implemented drastic measures to contain the virus such as travel curbs and citywide lockdowns.

A laboratory in the Chinese city at ground zero of the global coronavirus outbreak has rejected United States (US) theories that it spawned the pandemic, as President Donald Trump warned Beijing of consequences if it was "knowingly responsible".The denial came as world governments were debating how and when to ease lockdowns that have kept more than half of humanity - 4.5 billion people - confined to their homes and crippled the global economy.Many of the world's 260 million Or

Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: Wuhan Deaths RiseThe Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged has raised its death toll by 50 percent to a total of 3,869.The revision came as a growing chorus of world leaders suggested China had not been entirely open about the full domestic impact of the virus.The additional deaths in Wuhan were cases that were "mistakenly reported" or missed entirely, according to the official an

Coronavirus deaths have surged past 150,000 worldwide with nearly a quarter of them in the United States (US), where new rallies against lockdown orders are being held after President Donald Trump lent his support to the protesters.Evidence is mounting that social distancing successfully slowed the pandemic after more than half of humanity – 4.5 billion people – were confined to their homes.Governments around the world are now grappling with when and how to ease lockdowns that have crippled t

Nearly six out of every 10 people around the world are currently forced or urged to stay at home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to a count by international news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday.An AFP database shows that this concerns at least 4.5 billion people, or around 58 percent of the world population which is estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 7.79 billion in 2020.Confinement measures started to make themselves felt in-mid-March as the number of case

18 guards and inmates at a jam-packed Philippine prison have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Friday, heightening fears of a rapid spread of the illness inside the country's jails.Another 30 prisoners were showing symptoms inside the Quezon City Jail in the capital Manila – a facility so crowded that inmates take turns sleeping on staircases and open-air basketball courts.The outbreak has fuelled calls from rights groups for the early release of prisoners charged with

Singapore late Thursday reported a record jump in coronavirus cases, most of them linked to packed dormitories housing foreign workers, as it battled a second wave of infections.The affluent city-state had initially been held as a gold standard in the global fight against the COVID-19 disease, but a surge in the number of cases has left the government scrambling to contain the spread.The Ministry of Health reported 728 new cases as of midday Thursday - the biggest rise in a single day - bring

The new coronavirus pandemic has unleashed chaos on the world. Governments and organisations are scrambling to manage and contain the deadly virus from spreading further. As of 16 April, more than two million people have been infected worldwide and over 100,000 have succumbed to the deadly virus.