SEOUL－The mayor of the South Korean city hardest hit by outbreak expressed cautious hope on Sunday that the number of new cases may be dropping, after the rate of increase dropped to its lowest level in recent days, while the prime minister called for citizens' help in distributing masks.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or KCDC, reported 367 additional cases on Saturday and 179 as of Sunday evening, taking the total to 7,313.

Saturday's number was the slowest on-day gain since Feb 26, KCDC said. It also marked the first time in 11 days that the number of new infections fell to below 400, possibly offering signs of containment, Yonhap News Agency said.

In the city of Daegu, which accounts for as much as 75 percent of all of South Korea's confirmed cases, mayor Kwon Young-jin said that the number of new cases in the city dropped to below 300 for the first time since Feb 29, pointing to its slowing down.

However, KCDC Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong said it may be too soon to say that the spread of the virus is on the wane, noting the recent decline in the number of new cases was largely because of a drop in the number of cases linked to the Sincheonji church in Daegu.

Jeong said the rise in the number of virus patients could quickly accelerate if there is a new cluster of infection cases, which she said is still possible.

Also on Sunday, South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun called for citizens' cooperation to resolve the shortage of face masks and ensure smooth distribution amid growing public anger over the bungled supply scheme.

In a televised message Chung asked the public to "show a mature sense of civil awareness, based on concessions, consideration and cooperation".

Under the measure that will take effect on Monday, citizens will be able to buy only two protective masks a week from pharmacies, on designated days of the week, depending on the final number of their year of birth.

In Japan the number of coronavirus infections rose to 449 on Sunday morning, an increase of 45 cases from a day earlier.

In addition, 696 people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been infected, and 14 cases have been confirmed among people who returned on chartered flights, NHK said.

Separately, 11 health ministry and quarantine officials have also been confirmed to be infected.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said in an interview aired on Sunday that he expected the testing capacity for the virus "will increase to more than 7,000 a day by the end of this month from around 4,200 as of March 5 and 6,200 now", as national health insurance had started to cover coronavirus testing,

In Iran, Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, who was recently elected to the parliament from the capital Teheran, became the second Iranian lawmaker to die from the novel coronavirus since its outbreak on Feb 19.

Iran has been the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, with 743 new cases reported on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 6,566. The death toll rose to 194, up from 145 on Saturday.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed announced 33 new infections, taking the number of confirmed cases in the country to 48. All the new cases were discovered onboard a Nile cruise ship in the city of Luxor.

The United Arab Emirates reported 15 new cases, taking its total to 45, Iraq reported 9 new cases, taking its total to 54, and Palestine reported three new cases, taking its total to 19.

Xinhua - Agencies