Coronavirus deaths soared across Europe and the United States (US) on Sunday despite heightened restrictions, as Germany banned gatherings of more than two people and Chancellor Angela Merkel went into quarantine.In the US, President Donald Trump ordered emergency medical stations for hotspots, hospitals scrambled to find ventilators, and a trillion-dollar proposal to rescue America's reeling economy crashed to defeat.Germany and Greece became the latest countries to tighten curtailments

Thailand's confirmed coronavirus cases rose by a third to nearly 600, the kingdom announced Sunday, as fears of a full-blown crisis take hold in a country largely spared until now.Thailand's health ministry announced the spike was mainly in the capital, but warned residents of Bangkok not to leave and risk spreading the virus around the country."We would like you to stay home.

The COVID-19 pandemic started in the city of Wuhan in China. However, the once epicentre of the virus has closed all of its public facility-turned temporary hospitals on 10 March as the number of infected patients continues to decrease. According to local media in the country, life in China is gradually returning to normal since the lockdown.

On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte widened a month-long quarantine of Luzon to the entire Philippines in what local media are calling a six-month state of calamity. It is inevitable that the move will stall business operations and economic growth.

A ban on Malaysians leaving the country, imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, will deal a heavy blow to neighbouring Singapore, which relies on huge numbers of workers who commute from next door.Around 300,000 people usually cross the border every day to wealthier Singapore - about eight percent of the tiny city-state's labour force - to work in areas ranging from public transport to electronics manufacturing.But that flow ground to a halt Wednesday as Malaysia began enforcing

In late 2020, Myanmar will hold its general election for more than 1,000 seats in its legislative bodies. The lead-up to the elections overlaps with the 21st Century Panglong peace process and the possible repatriating of Rohingya refugees in ways that will only deepen social tensions. Myanmar's history of elections has seen large parties favoured over smaller ones and independent candidates.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered about half the country's population to stay home for the next month in a drastic bid Monday to curb the rising number of new coronavirus cases.If fully enforced, the sweeping order would mean most of the 55 million people on the main island of Luzon, which includes the capital Manila, would be housebound. Duterte said he backed the restrictions because a quarantine imposed Sunday on Manila's 12 million people was riddled with exc

A group of 25 Dutch tourists are among dozens of foreigners quarantined in communist Vietnam as the Southeast Asian nation tightens measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.Hanoi says a total of 39 people, the majority nationals and British visitors, have tested positive to the virus which has spread panic across a country of 96 million people.

Indonesia's transport minister is in intensive care after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, an official said Saturday, as schools and tourist attractions were ordered to close over the health threat. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi was receiving treatment at an army hospital in Jakarta, according to State Secretary Pratikno.A hospital spokesman said Sumadi was encountering difficulty breathing but that his condition was improving.Pratikno said Sumadi was invo

Police began closing off access to the Philippines' sprawling and densely populated capital Manila on Sunday, imposing a quarantine that officials hope will curb the nation's rising number of coronavirus cases.Officers armed with rifles blocked off main roads into the city of some 12 million as domestic flights to and from Manila were halted early Sunday for a month-long isolation of the capital.Mass gatherings and school at all levels have also been called off, but delays and excep