Global anxiety over outbreak mounts as situation worsens

Anxiety continues to mount worldwide as the highly contagious novel coronavirus has hit over 60 countries and infected around 9,000 people outside China, despite the drastic measures taken by many nations, including extending school breaks, enhancing screening and drawing up new legislation.

South Korea on Monday reported 599 new COVID-19 cases, taking its national tally to 4,335, as Seoul sought a murder investigation into a controversial church at the center of the country's outbreak.

The death toll rose to 22, up from 20, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

School breaks were extended to March 22 as part of an "all-out response" to the virus, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Seoul's municipal government said it had filed a legal complaint with prosecutors against 12 leaders of the secretive religious group — including its founder, Lee Man-hee — accusing them of homicide, causing harm and violating the Infectious Disease and Control Act.

As officials try to track down and test more than 266,000 people associated with the group, Shincheonji, it has been accused of submitting false lists of its members to authorities. Around 60 percent of the national total of cases has been linked to the church.

Lee, founder of the church, apologized on Monday for the spread of the disease during a news conference in Gapyeong, northeast of Seoul.

In Iran, a member of a council that advises Iran's supreme leader died on Monday after falling ill with novel coronavirus pneumonia, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness, which is affecting members of the country's leadership.

Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, died at a Teheran hospital from COVID-19, state radio said.

The council advises Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, helping to settle disputes between the supreme leader and the Iranian parliament. His death comes as other top officials have contracted the virus in Iran, which has the highest number of deaths from the illness outside of China.

Iran, epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East, has seen 385 new infections, increasing the total to 1,501, while the death toll has reached 66, according to the country's health ministry.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on state TV on Sunday that Iran will put together approximately 300,000 teams, starting on Tuesday, to perform door-to-door novel coronavirus screening.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has allocated facilities across the country to help eradicate the virus, a commander said at a televised news conference on Sunday.

Japan readies measures

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday the government will draw up legislation to prepare for a worst-case scenario and minimize the epidemic's impact. The measures could include a declaration of a state of emergency, Abe added.

"It is important to focus on the worst-case scenario, including what kind of measures should be taken if infections rapidly spread in certain areas, and to prepare for it," he said.

Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan, released a statement to stabilize markets by pledging to purchase more government bonds and Exchange-Traded Funds that hold shares of private-sector companies.

"The central bank will closely monitor future developments, strive to provide ample liquidity and ensure stability in financial markets through appropriate market operations and asset purchases," the statement said.

The Nikkei 225 rebounded after release of the statement and ended Monday at 21,344, 1 percent higher than Friday's close. It is the first gain after a five-day losing streak that erased nearly 10 percent of the benchmark's value.

Japan's health ministry reported 12 more cases of infection on Monday, bringing the total in Japan to 973, with 56 patients in serious condition.

Israel reported its 10th case of COVID-19, Iraq and Bahrain each reported six new cases, and Lebanon confirmed an increase to 10 cases.

First case in Russia

Russia reported its first infection on Monday, despite strict government measures designed to prevent novel coronavirus pneumonia.

David Berov, a Russian who recently returned from Italy, was sent to Moscow Hospital No 1 after he felt ill and tested positive for COVID-19 infection, according to Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being.

The hospital has sent the diagnosis to the medical center in the central Russian city of Novosibirsk, where experts will examine the positive test result. Six other people were sent to the hospital along with Berov and were waiting for test results.

Two Indonesians tested positive for COVID-19 after coming into contact with an infected Japanese person, President Joko Widodo said on Monday, marking the first confirmed cases in the world's fourth-most populous country.

A 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter had become infected after contact with a Japanese woman who was visiting from Malaysia and had tested positive after returning from a trip to Indonesia, Widodo told reporters at the presidential palace.

The Czech Republic and the Dominican Republic each reported their first case of novel coronavirus pneumonia.

Agencies contributed to this story.