Passengers queue to take metro line one in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
- Existing cases on the Chinese mainland drop below 1,000 for the first time.
- South Korea prepares medical supplies for the second wave.
- Trump is at odds with Democratic governors on restarting economic activities.
- The World Bank approves a 100-mln-dollars loan to the Philippines for fighting coronavirus.
BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BEIJING -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland dropped to 959 on Wednesday, the first time for the number to fall below 1,000, according to the National Health Commission Thursday.
By the end of Wednesday, more than half of the imported cases on the mainland had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the commission, at a press conference.
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Police are on duty at an entrance to the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, April 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)
MOSCOW -- Russia has reported 4,774 COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, raising the total number to 62,773 as of Thursday, the country's coronavirus response center said in a statement.
The daily increase continued to slow for the third consecutive day after weeks of mandatory self-isolation, the center's data showed.
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SEOUL -- South Korea's health authorities said Thursday that it will prepare medical resources for a possible second wave of the COVID-19 infections this autumn and winter in conjunction with the flu season.
Yoon Tae-ho, an officer of disinfection at the Central Disaster Management headquarters, told a press briefing that the health authorities are preparing medical supplies and facilities for the second epidemic of the COVID-19 this autumn and winter.
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HANGZHOU -- Chinese Internet giants Alibaba Group, JD.com, and Tencent have launched booking services for COVID-19 tests, the companies said.
Ali Health, Alibaba's health care subsidiary, has offered testing appointments in 10 cities, including Shanghai and Beijing starting from April 21. It will extend the service in 28 more cities this week.
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A man wearing face mask is seen shopping at a supermarket in Foster City, the United States, April 22, 2020. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump is at odds with a number of states run by Democratic governors, in a push-and-shove match over reopening the world's biggest economy.
Trump and some Republican governors are pushing for a swifter approach to opening the economy after millions of Americans have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
However, a number of Democratic governors are slow to reopen their states, citing concerns over the spread of the virus.
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Residents wearing face masks hold their plates and bowls as they line up for free meals provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) mobile kitchen and volunteers at a slum area during the enhanced community quarantine in Quezon City, the Philippines, April 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA -- The World Bank said it has approved a 100-million-U.S. dollar loan for the Philippine COVID-19 emergency response project to help meet urgent healthcare needs.
In a statement released on Thursday, the World Bank said the project, which will be implemented by the Department of Health (DOH), will help strengthen the essential healthcare delivery system for critical medical services in the face of increased demand in the coming months. ■
