Asia Today: Australia state reports 10 new deaths, 459 cases

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s Victoria state has recorded 10 deaths overnight from COVID-19, its highest daily toll amid a continuing surge in coronavirus cases.

State Premier Daniel Andrews said the deaths included seven men and three women. A man in his 40s became one of the youngest COVID-19 fatalities in Australia.

There are 459 new infections, the 21st straight day of triple-figure increases.

The fatalities bring Victoria’s toll to 71 and Australia’s national tally to 155. A total of 228 people are hospitalized in Victoria, 42 in intensive care.

Victoria processed 42,973 tests on Saturday, Andrews said, “far and away the biggest testing result that we’ve seen on a single day.”

He said he is not currently planning to extend the lockdown in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:

— North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has placed the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea under lockdown after a person was found with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. Kim said he believes “the vicious virus” may have entered the country, state media reported Sunday. If the person is officially declared a virus patient, he or she would be the North’s first confirmed coronavirus case. North Korea has steadfastly said it has no single virus case on its territory, a claim questioned by outside experts.

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