BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand reported no new COVID-19 case over the past 24 hours for two consecutive days, which was "very encouraging", Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said on Tuesday.

Bloomfield told a press conference that one probable case has been reclassified as not being the case, so the total case number dropped by one to 1,486.

The country's death toll remained unchanged at 20, Bloomfield said, adding four people are in hospital, with none in ICU.

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SEOUL -- South Korea reported three more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 a.m. Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,804.

It was the lowest daily increase in 77 days since Feb. 18. The daily caseload hovered below 20 for 18 straight days.

All the new cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 1,102. The domestic infection logged zero for the second consecutive day.

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CAPE TOWN -- Researchers in South Africa on Monday vaccinated hundreds of health workers with a 100-year-old tuberculosis (TB) in clinical trial in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TASK, a clinical research organization in Cape Town, conducted the trial at Tygerberg Hospital, an officially-designated COVID-19 treatment center in South Africa.

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WUHAN -- No newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported in central China's Hubei Province for Monday, the provincial health commission said Tuesday.

This marks that Hubei has reported no new confirmed COVID-19 cases for 31 consecutive days since April 4.

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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand announced Tuesday that the State of National Emergency to support the COVID-19 response will be extended for a sixth time, for a further seven days.

The initial declaration was made on March 25, and the seven-day declaration can be extended as many times as necessary. It does not change the COVID-19 Alert Level.

"On the advice of the Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management and after consultation with the prime minister, I consider the State of National Emergency should remain in place to support the COVID-19 response," Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said.