Record daily rise of new cases in Tokyo

TOKYO • Japan's capital Tokyo has confirmed 68 new coronavirus cases, a record daily increase, to 430, public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday.

Infections in broader Japan have climbed to more than 1,700, with 55 deaths as of early yesterday, excluding those from a cruise ship quarantined last month, NHK said.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has asked the tens of millions of people in the city and surrounding regions to avoid non-essential, non-urgent outings until April 12.

REUTERS

India to turn trains into isolation wards

NEW DELHI • India said it is planning to turn some railway coaches into isolation wards for patients with coronavirus, as the authorities scramble to prepare the country's health infrastructure for an expected surge in cases.

India's network of trains, the country's lifeblood, has been kept idle.

Once clearance is obtained, the plan is for each of India's 16 railway zones to convert 10 coaches into such wards every week.

REUTERS

Artania passengers to leave Australia

PERTH • Hundreds of cruise ship passengers were due to board flights for Germany yesterday, after spending days stranded at sea off the West Australian coast in a stand-off with the authorities.

The Artania docked in the port city of Fremantle last Friday after an earlier ban was reversed.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE