The number of coronavirus cases soared in some Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday as India reported the highest single day spike in new cases with total cases surpassing the 400,000-mark, and the number of cases in the Philippines exceeded 30,000.
The number of COVID-19 cases in India surpassed the 400,000 mark, reaching 410,461, as the total deaths due to the virus crossed the 13,000 mark, reaching 13,254, said the latest data released by the health ministry.
The ministry reported 306 new deaths and 15,413 more cases during the past 24 hours across the country.
This is the highest single day spike in terms of number of new COVID-19 cases in the country so far.
Bangladesh recorded over 3,500 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the total in the country to 112,306.
Senior health ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing on Sunday afternoon that "3,531 new COVID-19 positive cases and 39 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."
"The total number of positive cases is now 112,306 and the death toll stands currently at 1,464," the official added.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 30,052 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 653 more infections on Sunday.
The DOH said in its bulletin that the number of recoveries further rose to 7,893 after 243 more patients have survived the disease.
The death toll increased to 1,169 after 19 more patients have succumbed to the disease, the DOH added.
The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 862 within one day to 45,891, with the death toll adding by 36 to 2,465, Achmad Yurianto, a health ministry official, said at a press conference.
Afghanistan reported 409 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total to 28,833, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.
Within the past 24 hours, 1,007 tests were conducted, and 409 were positive cases, the ministry said in a statement.
Up to 581 deaths have been recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in February, an increase of 12 within the past 24 hours.
Malaysia reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, pushing the national total to 8,572, the country's health ministry said.
No new deaths had been reported, leaving the total death toll at 121.
South Korea reported 48 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 a.m. Sunday local time, raising the total number of infections to 12,421.
The daily caseload fell below 50 after recording 67 in the previous day. Of the new cases, eight were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 1,435.
No more death was confirmed, leaving the death toll at 280. The total fatality rate stood at 2.25 percent.
New Zealand reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, making the total case number to 1,161 in the country, Ministry of Health said in a statement.
As with the five other cases reported last week, the two new cases were recent arrivals from overseas and both were detected within the managed isolation facilities, said the Ministry of Health.
The total number of confirmed cases reported to the World Health Organization was currently 1,161 in the country. The combined total of confirmed and probable cases was 1,511, and the number of recovered cases remained at 1,482. The number of COVID-19 related deaths in the country remained at 22. ■