A Taiwanese woman in her 20s returning from working in Mexico has become
Taiwan's latest imported case of COVID-19, bringing the total number of
infections since the pandemic began to 487.

This latest infection was actually confirmed yesterday, but authorities today
provided more details.

Health officials say she traveled to Mexico to work in January. While in that
country, she first started developing possible symptoms in mid-July. She went
to a doctor in Mexico at that time, but she was diagnosed as having a stomach
ailment. In August, her health problems worsened, and she again returned to
see a doctor in Mexico but she was not tested for COVID-19.

Eventually, the woman's company arranged for her to return to Taiwan, which
she did on Aug. 19, where she informed authorities of her health
difficulties. She was subsequently tested and diagnosed as having the
coronoavirus and then quarantined.



T*COVID-19 brings Taiwan's travel income, expenses to new low in Q2

Border controls resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic caused Taiwan's travel
income and expenses to plunge for the second quarter of this year to a new
low since the data started to be collated in 1984.

That, according to the central bank.

In the April-June period, travel income fell from US$1.435 billion in the
first quarter to a new low of US$94 million, data released by the central
bank showed.

Fears over COVID-19 spread brought the global tourism industry to a virtual
standstill, the central bank said.

Due to the border controls imposed in mid-March, the number of outbound
travelers from Taiwan plunged by 98.9 percent from a quarter earlier to only
47,000, while the number of travelers to Taiwan also tumbled by 99.6 percent
to about 13,000.




India Cases Inch Closer to 3 Million

India has recorded another 24-hour jump in coronavirus infections as the
disease spreads across the country's southern states after plateauing in the
capital and the financial center of Mumbai.

India's Health Ministry reported 69,878 new cases today, bringing the total
to 2,975,701.

Globally India has been reporting the biggest daily rise in cases for 18
consecutive days.

Some 2.2 million people have recovered from the disease in India since the
first case was diagnosed in late January.

India has the third-highest caseload after the United States and Brazil, and
its 55,794 deaths give it the fourth-highest death toll in the world.

The head of the World Health Organization, said Friday that the goal was to
end the pandemic within two years of its first emergence in Wuhan, China,
late last year.



S Korea Orders Nationwide Pandemic Restrictions

South Korea is banning large gatherings, shutting nightspots and churches and
removing fans from professional sports nationwide in an attempt to slow a
resurgence of coronavirus infections.

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced the measures today after officials
reported 332 newly confirmed cases, marking the ninth straight day of
triple-digit increases.

Most of the new cases were in the Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at
the center of the viral surge of recent weeks. But infections were also
reported in practically every major city and in towns across the country.

The government had already imposed the tighter restrictions in the capital
region earlier this week.



Lebanon Begins Partial Lockdown amid Spike in Virus Cases

Lebanon on Friday began a two-week partial lockdown and nighttime curfew
after coronavirus cases increased sharply following an explosion in Beirut
that killed and injured thousands of people.

Confirmed cases of the virus have increased from 5,417 from Aug. 5 to more
than 11,000 on Friday, leading officials to announce the lockdown.

On Friday, Lebanon's Health Ministry tallied a record 628 confirmed new cases
in the previous 24 hours, raising the total registered cases since late
February to 11,580.

The pandemic has killed 116 people in the tiny country, which was successful
in limiting the spread of the virus during the early months.