Virus reaches office of Israeli leader

JERUSALEM－An employee in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said on Monday, without saying whether the 70-year-old leader had been exposed.

A statement from Netanyahu's office said an "epidemiological investigation is being conducted, which will provide appropriate guidelines for those who came into contact" with the employee.

Meanwhile, Israel has launched a national plan to clean up public spaces in local authorities.

It includes several actions, most notably the setting of an index for cleanliness and the monitoring of the public spaces, as well as giving assistance to local authorities to improve cleanliness levels.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Indian government on Monday cleared a $9.33 billion debt scheme to help stressed micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and approved a new definition for these units, as the country continues to see large daily increase in cases.

The western state of Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai crossed the 70,000 and 40,000 marks for cases, respectively, data released showed on Monday. Nationwide, there were 190,535 confirmed cases.

Singapore is racing to create additional housing for about 60,000 migrant workers by the end of this year, as it seeks to reduce the density in dormitories that have seen mass outbreaks of the virus.

The nation has more than 35,000 cases, largely due to infections in cramped, bunk-bed accommodation.

The government will create additional space through temporary structures that can be put together quickly in a modular form, and will also temporarily fit out unused state properties, such as former schools and vacant factories.

Indonesia reported 609 new cases on Tuesday, taking the total number to 27,549, said health ministry official Achmad Yurianto.

In the Philippines, major airlines say they plan to resume limited domestic flights from Wednesday, following a government move to ease quarantine restrictions.

However, international commercial flights remain suspended, except for a few sweeper flights to repatriate stranded Filipino workers and some foreigners, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday that all remaining restrictions may be lifted next week, after the country all but eliminated the virus domestically.

Ardern said New Zealand could move to alert level one next week, which means all social distancing measures and curbs on mass gatherings will be lifted. Borders will remain closed, she said.

In South Africa, the number of infections continued to rise on Monday as the country eased the national lockdown from level four to level three, allowing 8 million people to return to work. Schools will reopen on June 8.

As of Monday, the number of infections in South Africa stood at 34,357, with 705 deaths.

Xinhua - Agencies