BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious disease.
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PORT MORESBY -- Papua New Guinea (PNG) registered a second positive case of COVID-19 on Monday, which triggered a lockdown of the entire East New Britain (ENB) province where the patient was registered.
The person of interest was a local female resident of Kokopo in ENB, PNG Prime Minister James Marape told reporters from the nation's capital Port Moresby on Monday afternoon.
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JERUSALEM -- The number of novel coronavirus cases in Israel has risen to 9,006, the Israeli Ministry of Health said Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, Ichilov and Hasharon hospitals in central Israel announced the death of two coronavirus patients.
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JAKARTA -- The Indonesian capital of Jakarta, hit the hardest by COVID-19 in the country, will impose a large-scale social restriction to contain the further spread of the virus.
A request of Jakarta's administration to impose the restriction has been approved by the Indonesian Health Ministry, the ministry's Secretary General Oscar Pribadi said.
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JAKARTA -- Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has approved the proposal by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on large-scale social distancing to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
After that, the Jakarta administration can take any restrictive measures deemed necessary to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said Tuesday.
"It was signed by the Health Minister last night (Monday)," the Head of Media and Public Opinion at the Health Ministry, Busroni, was quoted by online media Detik.com as saying.
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TRIPOLI -- A United Nations official condemned a recent attack on a hospital in the Libyan capital Tripoli, noting it is "unacceptable" amid the global public health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am appalled to have learned that heavy shelling hit Tripoli's Al Khadra General Hospital today, injuring at least one health worker and damaging the fully-functioning medical facility," Yacoub El Hillo, UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Libya, said in a statement.
"The repeated calls by the United Nations and the international community for a cessation of hostilities have only been met with complete disregard and intensified fighting. This is unacceptable at a time when healthcare and health workers are vital in our fight against a global pandemic," the statement said.
