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| - Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: Cash-strapped Virgin Australia collapsed Tuesday, making it the largest carrier to buckle under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the global airline industry. In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Virgin said it planned to keep operating flights despite handing over the keys to administrators. Singapore extended restrictions to fight the coronavirus until early June, the city-state's leader said, as cases surged past 9,000 due to a growing number of infections among migrant workers. The city-state managed to keep its outbreak in check in the early stages due to widespread testing and contact-tracing, but is facing a fast-moving second wave of infections. Hong Kong has reduced growth of confirmed COVID-19 cases to single digits in recent days, but city authorities say they are not taking any risks. Chief executive Carrie Lam said social distancing measures and some business restrictions would continue for another two weeks until at least May 7. "This is not the time to be complacent. If we relax, the good work we have done will be in vain," she told reporters. China has reached an agreement with South Korea to set up a "fast track" for businesspeople to travel between the countries as Beijing looks to ease an entry ban on foreigners imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. With the deadly disease spreading globally, China last month blocked almost all foreigners from entering as authorities fretted over cases being imported from abroad. A possible explosion in coronavirus cases when millions travel to hometowns and ancestral villages after Ramadan has forced Indonesia's president to issue a ban on the annual exodus. Like Christmas or the Chinese Lunar New Year, the movement kicks off an extended holiday when many Indonesians celebrate Eid al-Fitr with their families to mark the end of Ramadan. The government has called on residents of major cities, including the capital Jakarta, to stay put, and President Joko Widodo said he would ban any mass migration. Australia said it would lift some healthcare and school restrictions on May 11, as the country gradually tries to ease out of the crisis and get the economy up and running again amid sustained low rates of new infections. "We are already on the road back and I think we have already reached a turning point on these issues, provided we can keep the controls in place that keep the virus under management," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison. South Korean football clubs will be allowed to hold practice matches behind closed doors from Tuesday, the K-League said, with the season delayed by two months so far over the coronavirus epidemic. South Korea endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China, but appears to have brought it under control thanks to its extensive "trace, test and treat" programme. China's richest man, Jack Ma, has donated 100 million face masks to the World Health Organization in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, plus one million high-quality N95 masks and a million test kits. The equipment -- sent by charitable arms the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation -- will arrive in the next few days and will be distributed to needy countries and regions, according to a statement. Pakistan said it would send millions of doses of chloroquine to "friendly" nations including the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Italy. The biggest recipient will be Britain, which will get five million tablets, government spokeswoman Firdous Ashiq Awan said. "Prime Minister Imran Khan informed the cabinet that leaders of some countries had called him and expressed a desire to import the tablets from Pakistan," she told reporters. Chloroquine and related compound hydroxychloroquine are being studied worldwide as potential weapons in the coronavirus fight. But proposals to put them to use immediately for more patients have proven highly controversial. Many experts warn there is not yet enough evidence of their safety or effectiveness against COVID-19. burs-sr/fox/it/dw
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