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January 18, 2021 10:00 PM Listen to podcasts by The Straits Times and The Business Times.

GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization is in advanced negotiations with Pfizer about including the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in the agency’s portfolio of shots to be shared with poorer countries, a senior WHO official said on Monday. Read full story

Thai AirAsia will keep only one-fourth of the staff and ask the rest to take a leave-without-pay offer for four months, starting February, as the re-emerging coronavirus outbreak has dealt a heavy blow to the aviation sector.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission is urging EU states to do more on sequencing the genome of the new coronavirus to spot mutations quickly, the EU health commissioner told Reuters on Monday, after the spread of the more contagious British variant. Read full story

Ghana’s Covid-19 infection rates are skyrocketing and include new strains of the virus not before seen in the country, filling treatment centres and threatening to overwhelm the health system, President Nana Akufo-Addo has said.

Thai AirAsia will keep only one-fourth of the staff and ask the rest to join its leave-without-pay policy for four months starting February as the new coronavirus outbreak is biting the aviation sector.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Global deaths from COVID-19 are expected to top 100,000 per week “very soon”, from more than 93,000 reported last week, the World Health Organization’s top emergency expert Mike Ryan said on Monday. Read full story

KOTA KINABALU: Disciplinary action will be taken against any Health Department staff member who might have helped patients at a low-risk quarantine centre obtain beer, says state Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Masidi Manjun. Read full story

SEPANG (Bernama): Two Bangladeshi men in their 20s, who had tested positive for Covid-19, tried to leave the country by boarding a flight bound for Dhaka on Sunday (Jan 17) via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here. Read full story

ATHENS (Reuters) – Shops in Greece reopened for the first time in two months on Monday as the government took its first steps towards easing coronavirus restrictions, in a bid to breathe life into the battered retail sector. Read full story

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese doctors have detected a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus first discovered in Britain in three people who had not travelled there, the Health Ministry said on Monday. Read full story

PUTRAJAYA: As the increasing number of Covid-19 infections continues to overwhelm the country, not all individuals identified as close contacts may undergo tests. Read full story

Eighty per cent of recovered Covid-19 patients in Hong Kong continue to experience at least one of the disease’s symptoms six months later and nearly a third report suffering from more than three, researchers have found.The study by a Chinese University team examined the role that imbalances in gut bacteria – or dysbiosis – played […]

PETALING JAYA: The government’s RM15bil Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia (Permai) assistance package can better assist Malaysians and industry players to weather through the Covid-19 pandemic, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong. Read full story

Mass vaccine programs are underway across the globe, amid questions over the effectiveness of some shots.

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Health officials in Hong Kong on Monday defended their flip-flop over a plan to move the daily Covid-19 press briefing online, saying the latest decision to continue the conference in a physical setting was in response to deep concern from the public.The original change, announced on Sunday evening, was aimed at implementing social distancing at […]

Hong Kong will this week establish a command centre staffed by hundreds of officers from the disciplinary services and other government workers to significantly ramp up tracing of close contacts of coronavirus patients, the Post has learned.The plan for the new centre was finalised at a meeting chaired by the city’s No 2 official and […]

Household members of Covid-19 patients’ close contacts will be asked to undergo coronavirus tests under a proposal to enhance Hong Kong’s tracing strategy, health officials said, as 25 new infections were recorded on Wednesday, the lowest since mid November.The new proposal was floated as senior officials convened a cross-departmental meeting on Wednesday to set up […]

A new command centre staffed by about 100 officers from the disciplined services and medical professionals will start operating in Hong Kong on Monday under an enhanced contact-tracing strategy for coronavirus cases, officials said, as another 33 infections were confirmed on Thursday.The city’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, had earlier said the administration […]

Hong Kong will launch its mass vaccination programme around Lunar New Year at four types of locations, authorities revealed late on Friday, as the city reported a slight jump in daily Covid-19 cases to 45 infections while mainland China wrestled with a worsening outbreak.Speaking after a meeting with the government, private doctors’ groups quoted officials […]

Hong Kong confirmed 59 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, a new high for the year, as a senior official said more affordable hotels would be added to the government’s list of quarantine facilities.Fifty-three of the fresh infections were locally transmitted, including 20 not linked to previous cases. The latest figures took the city’s overall tally to […]

Hong Kong’s fourth wave of the coronavirus continued to ease on Sunday with health authorities revealing just 31 new cases, but dozens of people at a care home for the elderly were forced into quarantine after a staff member tested preliminary-positive.A new cluster at a tunnel construction site emerged, while a ferry captain was among […]

Health experts have warned that Hong Kong could undo its success in containing the fourth wave of the coronavirus if residents continued to pack popular gathering spots heading into the Lunar New Year holiday.The government should consider limiting crowd sizes at shopping centres and wet markets, as well as require mask-wearing at country parks, to […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Sinovac Biotech said on Monday that a clinical trial in Brazil showed its COVID-19 vaccine was almost 20 percentage points more effective in a small sub-group of patients who received their two doses longer apart. Read full story

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Almost 27 million or over 80% of Malaysia’s population are expected to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the first quarter of next year, says Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Read full story

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc sent a video message to a teleconference of health ministers from the Western Pacific region hosted by World Health Organisation on Wednesday, with a focus on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two private hospitals have ordered millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines ahead of regulatory approval, adding to government orders of vaccines as Thailand tackles a second wave of the virus.

PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has detected nine new Covid-19 clusters in the country, bringing the total number of active clusters in the country to 299. Read full story

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria, Greece and Denmark will jointly pressure the European Medicines Agency to approve AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday, adding: “Every week counts.” Read full story

January 18, 2021 6:35 PM They said there was no need for alarm unless more cases started cropping up.

PUTRAJAYA: Covid-19 cases in the country remained above the 3,000 mark as Malaysia entered the sixth day of the second movement control order. Read full story

January 18, 2021 6:22 PM SINGAPORE – Developers, investors and businesses have been invited to provide the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) with ideas for the Jurong Lake District, in view of the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

KUCHING: Sarawak reported two new Covid-19 deaths on Monday (Jan 18), taking the state’s fatalities to 21 since the pandemic started. Read full story

A government advisory panel has recommended the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in Hong Kong, paving the way for a mass inoculation campaign after Lunar New Year.The panel of experts meeting on Monday took three hours to give their unanimous backing to the vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer […]

The number of rooms priced at less than HK$500 a night at government-approved quarantine hotels is set to more than double in mid-February, following a rash of complaints that the limited supply of affordable options for arrivals had effectively left hundreds of Hong Kong residents stranded overseas.Four of the designated coronavirus quarantine hotels included on […]

GENEVA (Reuters) – The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that the world was on the brink of a “catastrophic moral failure” on distributing vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers to share COVID-19 doses more fairly around the world. Read full story

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Health Minister Jens Spahn on Monday urged people not to call the new coronavirus mutation that was first detected in the United Kingdom “the English variant”. Read full story

Still struggling to control illegal migration through the northern border, authorities have a new worry in the South, where a spike in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia threatens to spill over into Thailand.

Aditya Singh was reportedly afraid to fly due to Covid-19, so lived in Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

Covid-19 vaccines will be subject to robust safety procedures before they are distributed to the Hong Kong public, a senior official has pledged after one brand procured by the city was found in a study to be significantly less effective than expected.Civil service minister Patrick Nip Tak-kuen on Wednesday also said he believed that residents’ […]

Hong Kong health officials are racing to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak in four old tenement blocks amid infection fears and calls by an expert to remove faulty pipes, while the city on Wednesday confirmed 42 new Covid-19 cases.Mandatory testing for residents and recent visitors at the buildings on Reclamation Street in Jordan was ongoing. […]

Online classes resumed in Hong Kong schools this month, but a number of teachers remain stranded in Britain because of the Covid-19 travel ban, the Post has learned.Nearly one in 10 teachers from Harrow International School, including its head, Ann Haydon, are still stuck in Britain. Belinda Greer, CEO of the city’s biggest international school […]

Lack of water puts health care workers and patients at higher risk of COVID-19 infection Around 1.8 billion people are at heightened risk of COVID-19 and other diseases because they use or work in health care facilities without basic water services, warn WHO and UNICEF.  “Working in a health care facility without water, sanitation and […]

January 18, 2021 5:31 PM SINGAPORE – Blood plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients is reserved for those who are not responding well to initial treatments for the coronavirus, the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has said.

PUTRAJAYA: Seremban and Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan will be placed under the movement control order beginning Jan 19, following an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases reported in the two districts. Read full story

Malaysia unveiled a new 15 billion ringgit (112 billion baht) assistance package to help the economy weather the impact from a fresh surge in coronavirus cases.

Malaysia unveiled a new 15 billion ringgit (112 billion baht) assistance package to help the economy weather the impact from a fresh surge in coronavirus cases.

As Los Angeles County battles against the unrelenting coronavirus, an air pollution control agency says it has temporarily suspended limits on cremations in order to assist crematoriums in the county with a “backlog” caused by the pandemic.

Hong Kong’s ban on travellers from Britain has left hundreds of city residents stranded and facing a costly six-week journey if they want to get back anytime soon. Those desperate to return must spend three weeks in a country outside Britain before continuing to Hong Kong, where they will have to spend another three weeks […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration has authorised the emergency use of Pfiser Inc and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, its head said on Thursday. The Pfiser-BioNTech vaccine, which has shown a 95 percent success rate, is the first vaccine the Philippines has approved. FDA head Rolando Enrique Domingo told a media […]

Just a little more than halfway into January, the US has added a staggering 3.9 million new Covid-19 cases and more than 51,000 virus-related deaths.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s health minister on Monday said that although measures to contain the spread of coronavirus had started showing an effect, further efforts were needed to bring the virus permanently under control. Read full story

China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd defended the efficacy of its Covid-19 shot, saying the vaccine that’s being rolled out from Indonesia to Brazil despite inconsistent data readouts is more effective in preventing the disease if the two-dose regime is administered over a longer time frame.

January 18, 2021 3:54 PM SINGAPORE – There were 14 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Monday noon (Jan 18), taking Singapore’s total to 59,127.

Laos has not confirmed a new Covid-19 case since 7 December last year, with the total number in the country unchanged at 41 and zero deaths. The National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced yesterday that no new Covid-19 cases had been recorded in Laos, and the total number of cases remains at 41. […]

While economic growth in the Lao PDR contracted in 2020 for the first time in over two decades, the economy is set to recover in 2021 and in the medium term, provided the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is contained and business can resume with trading partners, according to a World Bank report released today. […]

As the novel coronavirus pandemic spreads and impacts the entire planet, many countries have issued entry and travel restrictions, including Việt Nam.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Health authorities quarantined two hotels and closed ski schools in the posh Swiss resort of St Moritz on Monday to try to curb an outbreak of the highly infectious new coronavirus variant. Read full story

A so-called Covid-19 “superspreader” who traveled around northeastern China has been linked to 102 confirmed infections, according to Chinese officials.

A new private hospital set to open next week under the Chinese University of Hong Kong can take in Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms if capacity in the public sector is stretched, its management has said.The CUHK Medical Centre in Sha Tin, the first private teaching hospital wholly owned by a university, would also require […]

[Sponsored Article] While the coronavirus pandemic is grabbing all the attention this year as an unprecedented public health crisis, heart disease remains the number three killer of the general population (1). As the community works collectively to ward off COVID-19, we must also not ignore our cardiovascular health. According to Dr. Adrian Cheong, specialist in cardiology, hypercholesterolemia […]

A pilot scheme to check sewage in Hong Kong for the presence of the coronavirus will have its screening capacity doubled, after successfully uncovering hidden carriers in two housing blocks.A team of experts at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has also finalised a standard operating procedure to trigger mandatory testing of all residents in […]

Plagued by the collapse of travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, arrivals to Hong Kong plummeted nearly 94 per cent year on year in 2020 to just 3.57 million, a 36-year low for the once-mighty tourism hub.The provisional numbers, published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board on Friday, marked a precipitous plunge from the 55.9 million […]

A feared coronavirus rebound could be under way in Hong Kong, as health officials on Sunday confirmed 55 new infections with more than 80 pending confirmation, sparking a warning from an infectious disease expert that a “perfect storm” was brewing in old neighbourhoods. The resurgence came as a top government adviser called for the city’s […]

The coronavirus pandemic has brought countries to a standstill. Meanwhile, vaccinations have already started in some countries as cases continue to rise. Follow here for the latest.

Funding for community programmes, engaging youth in solutions to address COVID-19, and convening Global Youth Summit are key features of this new mobilization A new ground-breaking global youth mobilization was launched today to invest in and scale up youth-led solutions and engagements in response to COVID-19. The initiative was launched by an alliance of the […]

The Behavioural Insights Unit of the WHO released a meeting report of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on the special session on acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, held on 15 October 2020. The meeting report outlines the factors that drive people’s behaviour in relation to vaccine acceptance and uptake: an enabling environment, social influences […]

MELAKA: Melaka’s top cop Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Majid Mohd Ali will still be working from his office after 83 of his personnel from the same workplace underwent Covid-19 tests. Read full story

January 18, 2021 2:14 PM Stay-at-home activities last year, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, have led to an overall increase in sales of computers and peripheral devices globally, including in Singapore, after a decade of sluggish performance.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday his government will take all possible measures to protect the country’s medical system, as hospitals creak under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read full story

The coronavirus pandemic has brought countries to a standstill. Meanwhile, vaccinations have already started in some countries as cases continue to rise. Follow here for the latest.

Hong Kong health authorities ordered the evacuation of five residential buildings on Thursday as Covid-19 outbreaks worsened in two districts, with vertical transmission of the virus suspected at one public housing block in Kwai Chung.The latest evacuation, of Yan Shek House in Shek Yam Estate, was launched after six residents from three flats facing the […]

Hong Kong authorities on Friday ordered the isolation of four old tenement blocks in one of the city’s most densely populated neighbourhoods to contain an escalating Covid-19 outbreak, taking such a drastic step for the first time since the start of the pandemic.The isolation order effectively locks down all of 20, 22, 24 and 26 […]

Two young men work side-by-side in a butcher’s shop. They live in the same teeming and densely packed town. One is fortunate — he’s eligible to get an Israeli Covid-19 vaccination. The other isn’t.

The government on Monday recorded 369 new Covid-19 cases, raising the accumulated total since the start of the pandemic to 12,423. No new deaths were reported.

KUALA LUMPUR: Senior Umno lawmaker Tan Sri Noh Omar and his family had to undergo Covid-19 screenings after his son-in-law tested positive for the virus. Read full story

January 18, 2021 1:00 PM Some 13,000 workers have registered to get their first dose this week.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought countries to a standstill. Meanwhile, vaccinations have already started in some countries as cases continue to rise. Follow here for the latest.

A Chinese worker living in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone tested positive for Covid-19 upon his return to China. Authorities in Laos have locked down Ton Pheung District in Bokeo Province for a second time following the news of the Chinese worker infected with Covid-19. The man developed a fever and was admitted to […]

Cambodia reopened public schools across the kingdom on Monday after the first community outbreak of COVID-19 was over late last year. The post Cambodia reopens schools as community COVID-19 outbreak is over appeared first on The Cambodia Daily.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 7,141 to 2,040,659, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday. The reported death toll rose by 214 to 46,633, the tally showed. Read full story

Health experts have advised the Hong Kong government to expand mandatory Covid-19 testing to all restaurant and retail workers in Yau Tsim Mong to cut off silent transmission links in the district, home to a large outbreak in old buildings last week.The city on Monday was expecting a high caseload, after 80 preliminary-positive cases were […]

MAMUJU, Indonesia: Medics battled exhaustion and the risk of Covid-19 as they raced Monday to treat scores of people injured by a devastating earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

Relaxing social-distancing measures in Hong Kong ahead of Lunar New Year could lead to a rebound in coronavirus infections, officials have warned, while the city also faces a possible delay in its vaccination drive. Health experts said they would not rule out pushing back the coming inoculation campaign amid concern over side effects of the […]

January 18, 2021 12:00 PM Sales of the new kit have just been launched, after it obtained the approval on Jan 8.

January 18, 2021 12:01 PM SINGAPORE – Construction contracts for the built environment sector are expected to grow to between $23 billion and $28 billion this year, as the sector recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Monday (Jan 18).

In his end of year message for 2020, WHO Director-General says there is light at the end of the tunnel in the fight against COVID-19. But going into 2021, he urges countries and communities to work together, in solidarity, to overcome this and future health challenges.

January 18, 2021 11:45 AM OCBC Bank and Great Eastern announced programmes to support those receiving the shots.

SAMUT PRAKAN: Twelve Myanmar nationals were arrested for violating the provincial ban on crowd gatherings during the Covid-19 outbreak, in Bang Phli district on Sunday night.

Intellasia East Asia News Beijing’s top diplomat pledged Saturday to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials saiddespite growing resistance there to Chinese-made jabs over concerns about their efficacy. President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for the country’s 110 million people, after being […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines continues to see an “opening” to roll back remaining movement restrictions despite a new coronavirus variant detected in the country, a necessary step for the economy to bounce back from last year’s recession. “Given the experience of other countries, I think there’s an opening,” Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl […]

Intellasia East Asia News Manuel, a 43-year-old cook at a local restaurant in San Jose, Risal, Philippines who lost his job during the COVID-19 lockdown in March, had been waiting for 9 hours in an endless line outside his barangay hall (community centre). The harrowing thought of contracting the virus from the crowd briefly occurred […]

Intellasia East Asia News Few investors want to commit to airports at present, and they cannot be blamed given the current situation in the aviation sector brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to aviation think tank CAPA-Centre for Aviation. CAPA said that few investors want to commit to airports until requirements for testing and […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines will sign a deal with AstraZeneca Plc. on Thursday for up to 20 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccines. Private companies and local officials are helping the central government secure AstraZeneca shots, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said at a televised briefing. Talks are ongoing with the vaccine-maker for […]

Intellasia East Asia News Risk aversion last year reached even the country’s largest economic zone operator where tax perks are offered in exchange for placements, a direct consequence of coronavirus uncertainties. Investment pledges at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) sank 19.2 percent year-on-year to P95.03 billion, the lowest since 2006 when prospective placements amounted […]

Intellasia East Asia News The House of Representatives will be conducting its own probe into the government’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, with the chamber’s health committee scheduling a hearing on the matter next Monday. Among the resource persons invited to the probe are Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines logged 1,912 new coronavirus infections Thursday, pushing the country’s total to 494,605. Of the total, 25,614 or 5.2 percent are active cases or those who are still undergoing treatment and quarantine. The Department of Health recorded 746 new recoveries, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors in the country […]

Intellasia East Asia News The new and more contagious variant of COVID-19 was not detected among the close contacts of the overseas Filipina worker in Hong Kong, the Department of Health said Thursday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said some of the contacts of the 30-year-old worker tested positive for COVID-19 but they had low […]

Intellasia East Asia News Two senators on Thursday said top officials should focus on acquiring vaccines from Pfiser instead of manufacturers whose jabs have not yet received regulatory approval in the country. “The Food and Drug Administration’s green light to use the Pfiser vaccine in the country against the novel coronavirus should prompt the government […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines on Wednesday confirmed its first case of the new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus: a man who returned from the United Arab Emirates. In recent weeks, Filipinos have been closely watching with concern developments about the COVID-19 variant that continues to tear through the United Kingdom and […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippine government and private firms signed another deal with AstraZeneca Thursday for 17 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine as officials scramble to lock in supplies to inoculate at least 50 million Filipinos this year. Around 300 companies and 39 local government units pitched in for the procurement of additional […]

It is unclear if Cambodia’s apparent criticism of Chinese coronavirus vaccines is meant to refute the country’s reputation as China’s proxy. If that is the case, then Cambodia needs to do far more to introduce balance to its foreign policy. The post Cambodia’s veiled criticism of Chinese vaccines hints at Hun Sen’s foreign policy plans […]

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday that China will provide a million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be used for inoculating 500,000 people. The post Cambodia says China donates 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines appeared first on The Cambodia Daily.

Human trafficking has been added to the school syllabus in Cambodia as students return to classes for a new year after extended breaks in 2020 were enforced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The post Human trafficking added to Cambodian school curriculum appeared first on The Cambodia Daily.

China will donate one million doses of its Sinovac coronavirus vaccine to Cambodia, the kingdom’s strongman premier Hun Sen has said, thanking “friend” Beijing for its generosity. The post ‘Friend’ China to donate 1 million vaccine doses to Cambodia: PM appeared first on The Cambodia Daily.

Mass public vaccination programs using a Chinese coronavirus vaccine are underway across Indonesia and Turkey, despite a growing number of questions over the effectiveness of the shot.

China’s economy grew at 2.3% for the year, making it the only major economy to see growth last year.

China’s economy grew more than expected last year, even as the rest of the world was upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine developed by the US and Germany has become the first to apply for an emergency roll-out in Hong Kong and a government advisory panel is expected to decide as early as Monday whether to recommend its use amid confusion over the efficacy of the jab from China’s Sinovac.In an interview with […]

Hong Kong’s subdivided flats and improper sewage structures crammed into old buildings have exposed flaws in the city’s strategy against Covid-19, health experts have warned, calling for a more proactive and timely approach.The concern centred on fears over what was perceived by critics as a delayed response in tackling growing clusters in aged tenement blocks […]

The combined impact of illegal dirt bike riders and wildfires has led to the rapid destruction of a popular Hong Kong hiking spot, prompting a local green group to call for stricter enforcement and reforestation.Once covered with silver grass, the slopes of Kai Kung Leng in Lam Tsuen Country Park in the New Territories are […]

January 18, 2021 10:02 AM SINGAPORE – Covid-19 has laid bare the fact that the world today is increasingly connected, and that no country can address long-term problems on their own, said Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad on Monday (Jan 18).

Technology to help our mental wellbeing has grown in popularity during the coronavirus lockdowns.

As war-torn Yemen braces itself for a second wave of Covid-19, one doctor tells her story of battling the pandemic alone after her colleagues fled.

(Reuters) – China locked down the central city of Wuhan a year ago at the start of the Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest holiday, as it battled to contain the spread of a novel coronavirus. Read full story

In 2020, at least 28,000 teachers were deployed to Covid-19 roles, according to two teachers’ associations in New Delhi.

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines has extended the travel restriction for foreign travellers from or transiting through 33 countries and regions with reported cases of the new coronavirus variants until January 31, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday. The government announced the extension barely two days after the Philippines confirmed its first case […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines government will be expanding its travel ban in response to the potentially more infectious coronavirus variant to include the United Arab Emirates and Hungary. The ban on foreign travellers hailing from the two countries will take effect on January 17 and will last until the end of the month. […]

Intellasia East Asia News Businessmen on Friday renewed their call for the passage of the Duterte administration’s revised corporate tax reform, saying the measure would serve as companies’ main fix to the destruction of the coronavirus pandemic. The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill is a “historic economic reform” that firms need […]

Intellasia East Asia News Sen. Ping Lacson on Friday sounded the alarm over the vaccine czar making contravening statements on the prices of the COVID-19 jabs being acquired by the government amid fears that the country is purchasing less effective vaccines at a higher cost. Lacson pointed out that senators on Monday asked vaccine czar […]

Intellasia East Asia News The Philippines on Friday extended by two weeks a ban on travellers from more than 30 territories and countries where a more transmissible COVID-19 variant has been detected, with the restriction also now covering Filipinos who want to come home. The Southeast Asian country, which has recorded its first case of […]

Intellasia East Asia News China-made vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 are “global public goods” and low-cost, which will benefit developing countries, the Chinese embassy in Manila said yesterday. The embassy defended Chinese pharmaceutical firms Sinovac and Sinopharm, both of which face questions on lack of transparency and low efficacy rates of their vaccines. Officials […]

Intellasia East Asia News The country’s coronavirus caseload rose to 496,646 Friday after 2,048 additional infections were added to the tally. The number of cases stands at 27,033 or 5.4 percent of the nation’s confirmed cases, latest data from the Department of Health showed. The DOH also announced 551 additional recovered patients, pushing total recoveries […]

Intellasia East Asia News Philippine senators on Friday questioned the government’s preference for the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine after latest data showed it has a lower efficacy rate, saying this would not bode well for a country seeking to boost confidence in vaccines. President Rodrigo Duterte’s office said on Monday it was expecting to receive next […]

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Sunday insisted he won’t allow Thais to be used as guinea pigs to test the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, saying any jabs rolled out for use in Thailand must be proven to be safe.

Amid a devastating resurgence of the coronavirus in parts of Brazil, federal health officials have finally voted to authorize two vaccines for emergency use. Sunday, Brazilian regulatory agency Anvisa approved both the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the Coronavac vaccine.

The Industry Ministry is preparing to launch a new soft loan programme this week to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) better cope with the latest wave of the Covid-19 outbreak.

An expected U-turn by the Hong Kong government to allow Lunar New Year flower markets at traditional major venues has caused confusion among florists, with some saying the reversal is too late as they have already sought alternative locations or changed sales strategy.Politicians across the political divide, however, welcomed the move, although they accused the […]

The BBC’s Stephen McDonell visits Wuhan ahead of the anniversary of the world’s first Covid-19 lockdown.

Two or more unrelated Covid-19 infections over a 14-day period in any housing block will trigger a mandatory testing order for everyone in the building under a lower threshold to contain outbreaks, Hong Kong health authorities announced on Tuesday. They also revealed that three hidden coronavirus carriers had been detected through a pilot sewage monitoring […]

Many of Hong Kong’s young people are worried about contracting the coronavirus but two in five say they will not get the Covid-19 vaccine, a survey has found.Almost 90 per cent of the respondents were unhappy with the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, with about 55 per cent saying the measures adopted by the […]

  As the world comes together to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to ensure that essential health services and operations are continued to protect the lives of people with TB and other diseases or health conditions. Health services, including national programmes to combat TB, need to be actively engaged in ensuring an effective […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed the Comirnaty, COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use, making the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from WHO since the outbreak began a year ago.

Intellasia East Asia News Beijing’s top diplomat pledged Saturday to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials said despite growing resistance there to Chinese-made jabs over concerns about their efficacy. President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for the country’s 110 million people, after […]

Intellasia East Asia News The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines inched closer to half a million, as the Department of Health reported over 2,000 new cases on Saturday, January 16. The DOH reported 2,058 new cases on Saturday, raising the total to 498,691, inching closer to the half million mark nearly […]

PARIS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — France registered 16,642 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to figures released by the Public Health Agency on Sunday. Read full story

SAO PAULO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Brazil’s Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) unanimously approved on Sunday the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine, from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, as well as the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine against COVID-19. Read full story

SAO PAULO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Brazilian nurse Monica Calazans, 54, became the first Brazilian to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus on Sunday after Brazilian health authorities approved the emergency use of the vaccines. Read full story

Prime Minister Jean Castex said the measures would be in place for at least 15 days.

With coronavirus vaccines now rolling out across the United States, businesses and schools are considering how, and what it will take, to safely resume in-person operations.

JERUSALEM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — The number of COVID-19 death cases in Israel has reached 4,005, the state’s Ministry of Health said on Sunday night. Read full story

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — U.S. California counties reported 32,904 new cases of COVID-19 and 418 new deaths Saturday for a total of 2,951,682 cases and 33,391 deaths in the state, according to a report by Bay Area News Group on Sunday. Read full story

Instead of training for up to five hours a day as they prepare for the Australian Open, 72 players find themselves unable to leave their hotel rooms under coronavirus quarantine rules — and a number of them are vocally expressing their frustrations.

NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Total COVID-19 hospitalizations reached 8,771 on Saturday in New York state, down from 8,888 on Friday, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday. Read full story

BEIRUT, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Since the early hours in the morning, Wassim Al-Ali starts his day by riding his bicycle to deliver daily necessities from the markets to local residents in his home village Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. Read full story

ALGIERS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Algeria on Sunday reported 222 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections in the North Africa country to 103,833. Read full story

HAVANA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — The Cuban Ministry of Public Health reported four deaths and 650 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Sunday, a daily record since the pandemic first hit the country. Read full story

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM The impact of Covid-19 has dramatically transformed education systems around the world.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM The six local universities offered around 1,000 extra places last year as the disruption caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic forced students to readjust their plans. The universities will continue to offer additional places this year, if the situation does not change.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM SINGAPORE – The six local universities offered around 1,000 extra places last year as the disruption caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic forced students to readjust their plans. The universities will continue to offer additional places this year, if the situation does not change.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM CherryLoft Resorts & Hotels in Pasir Ris has been fined $1,000 and ordered to suspend bookings for a month after it breached multiple safe management measures and allowed 19 people to gather on its premises.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM The world went into a tizzy last month with the emergence of a new strain of the coronavirus in southern England. It was said to be more infectious and able to spread more easily.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM The Covid-19 pandemic was a key issue tackled by teams in this year’s N.E.mation! competition.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM The surreal sight of supermarkets thronged with people panic buying, after it was announced that Singapore would enforce circuit breaker measures.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM The two community cases announced yesterday are linked to a Singapore Police Force para-veterinarian who was earlier confirmed to have Covid-19, forming a new cluster with four cases.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM SINGAPORE – The world went into a tizzy last month with the emergence of a new strain of the coronavirus (N501Y) in southern England. It was said to be more infectious and able to spread more easily.

January 18, 2021 5:00 AM SINGAPORE – The impact of Covid-19 has dramatically transformed education systems around the world.

A pilot sewage monitoring system in Hong Kong to detect Covid-19 has found “sustained and reliable” evidence of the coronavirus from a public housing block, authorities said on Monday as they ordered over 700 households to undergo mandatory testing.Details of the new coronavirus-detection drive were unveiled on a day that the city confirmed 61 new […]

With more residential blocks in Hong Kong hit by Covid-19 outbreaks in recent months, design issues at public housing estates have increasingly become a cause for concern, with experts pointing to problems such as inadequate drainage systems, especially in older buildings.The Post spoke with architects and engineers to find out what residents can do to […]

Tens of thousands of residents in 43 buildings in Hong Kong must be screened for Covid-19 after the government tightened its policy for mandatory testing, health officials revealed on Wednesday, as they confirmed 54 new infections and four more related deaths.One of those buildings, Kai Fai House at the Choi Wan (II) estate, became the […]

A Covid-19 patient has been identified in a housing block where Hong Kong’s pilot sewage surveillance scheme found traces of the coronavirus, just days after cases were uncovered in another building in the same estate.While announcing another 68 confirmed coronavirus cases on New Year’s Eve, health officials also revealed that for the first time a […]

Hong Kong confirmed 42 new Covid-19 infections on New Year’s Day, the lowest daily caseload since the start of the fourth wave about six weeks ago, but health officials and experts warned numbers could rebound because of recent festive gatherings.Friday’s count, which included 13 untraceable infections and six imported ones, was the lowest since November […]

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in Hong Kong and the world at large, crippling travel, forcing businesses to shut down and keeping people cooped up at home. Since the first case was confirmed in Hong Kong on January 23, the city has battled all year long with the pandemic and is now trying to […]

Please join us by signing the Call for Action—a global movement to promote access to health information and to mitigate harm from health misinformation among online and offline communities. Sign the Call for Action Since the beginning of the outbreak over a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic has gravely affected our societies and economies. Likewise, […]

Despite the successful use of the JRA OT in country pilots, the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the ability to provide facilitation support for in-country engagement. But ironically, the zoonotic nature of COVID-19 has made JRA OT more relevant and needed than ever. The JRA OT tripartite secretariat mobilized to identify opportunities for virtual facilitation and […]

The World Health Organization and YouTube have partnered on an inviting and humorous public service announcement (PSA) to help battle COVID-19 fatigue as we head into the holiday season. After nine months of physical distancing, lockdowns and other preventative measures, the video reminds viewers to stay vigilant and continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus […]

TEHRAN, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — A senior Iranian health official said on Sunday that Iran has purchased 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX, the state TV reported. Read full story

CAIRO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Iran said on Sunday that it has purchased 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX; Meanwhile, Lebanon signed a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to buy over 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Read full story

RABAT, Jan. 17 (Xinhua)– Morocco’s COVID-19 tally rose to 459,671 on Sunday as 806 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours. Read full story

ATHENS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Seven in ten Greeks are willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to opinion polls, as vaccination of the elderly above 85 years old started this weekend in Greece, after that of health professionals and residents of elderly care homes in recent weeks. Read full story

JERUSALEM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Israel’s Ministry of Health reported 5,825 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 547,689. Read full story

It’s been over a month now since the first Covid-19 vaccines were distributed in the United States, and we still haven’t reached the initial goal set out for 20 million Americans to be vaccinated — one initially set for the end of 2020. That has come and gone, and the promised windfall of doses being […]

LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s public health system is on the verge of collapsing as hospitals in the areas worst-affected by a worrying surge in coronavirus cases are quickly running out of intensive care beds to treat COVID-19 patients. Read full story

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — About a month after COVID-19 vaccine rollout began in the United States, it is still impossible for the public and the media to track the rollout of vaccines in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term-care facilities (LTCF) in most states, said a latest report of The COVID Tracking […]

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Sweden continues to buy and use the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat COVID-19 patients, despite the World Health Organization (WHO)’s advice against doing do, Swedish News Agency TT reported on Sunday. Read full story

JERUSALEM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Israel’s flagship airline El Al announced on Sunday that it will resume flights between Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv and the Red Sea resort city of Eilat. Read full story

This is the eighth story in a series on the Covid-19 disease, one year after it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It looks at how Covid-19 has exacerbated the inequalities in society, especially for blue-collar workers and the underprivileged, and how government policies have made things worse for them. Please support us on […]

After a year in which Covid-19 has infected thousands of Hongkongers, crippled an already faltering economy and changed day-to-day life in drastic fashion for most residents, 2021 brings hope in the form of vaccines set to arrive in the new year. As the city prepares to launch a mass-vaccination programme, the Post answers the most […]

Some of the city’s biggest insurance companies are offering coverage for the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines, as Hongkongers prepare to start receiving their jabs as early as January.French giant AXA and online insurer OneDegree have both just announced plans to offer free protection for anyone who registers with them. HSBC Life, the insurance arm […]

Hong Kong is expected to begin mass Covid-19 vaccinations next month, a top minister has said, as a leading government adviser revealed authorities planned to further expand the city’s tracing capacity by deploying immigration and customs officers.Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said in a Facebook post on Saturday that the government aimed […]

Hong Kong recorded 41 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, as a fresh outbreak involving 11 construction workers at the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin tunnel prompted authorities to issue a mandatory testing order at the site again. Up to 1,500 workers will have to undergo compulsory screening after a scaffolding supervisor was confirmed with the virus […]

Public hospitals in Hong Kong will strengthen measures against Covid-19 by requiring anyone intending to stay at day wards to undergo screening for the virus before being admitted and ask patients who visit for regular procedures to submit to weekly tests.The fresh measures were aimed at preventing the spread of the disease after two facilities […]

Some competitors must stay in their hotel rooms, following positive Covid cases on inbound flights.

LONDON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Another 38,598 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, the lowest daily increase since the start of the year, according to official figures released Sunday. Read full story

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected Hongkongers from all walks of life. Since the first infections in January, the highly transmissible virus has quietly spread to the wider community through silent carriers. People have been infected with the coronavirus at places of worship, care homes for the elderly, workplaces that share common facilities, hospital wards, and […]

Nearly all of Hong Kong’s most affordable hotels designated for quarantining arrivals have been fully booked till at least late January, leaving hundreds of city residents, including domestic helpers, stranded overseas.Both groups are now calling on the government, which described the current supply of rooms as “largely adequate” in a statement to the Post, to […]

Hong Kong’s social-distancing measures are likely to remain in force until at least the Lunar New Year period and even harsher rules may be imposed to contain the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.Health authorities announced on Monday that current measures such as the ban on public gatherings of more than two people and restaurant […]

COVAX now has agreements in place to access nearly two billion doses of several promising vaccine candidates, and laid the groundwork for further doses to be secured through contributions from donors These agreements mean that all COVAX’s 190 participating and eligible economies will be able to access doses to protect vulnerable groups in the first […]

DUBLIN (Reuters) – France is considering requiring rapid COVID-19 tests from Irish truck drivers operating on a logistics route that has become key since Britain’s exit from the European Union, Ireland’s transport minister said on Sunday. Read full story

Empty sports stadiums are shifting from voting and testing centers to vaccine distribution hubs amid the latest efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Less than 40 per cent of Hongkongers are willing to take a Covid-19 vaccine shot, a university survey has found, worrying researchers who say it is far below the necessary rate to achieve significant protection for the city’s population.Residents interviewed this past summer by Chinese University’s medical school cited the potential for unknown side effects […]

January 17, 2021 10:55 PM SINGAPORE – The two community cases announced on Sunday (Jan 17) are linked to a Singapore Police Force para-veterinarian who was earlier confirmed to have Covid-19, to form a new cluster with four cases.

PETALING JAYA: The Prime Minister has agreed to form a Health and Scientific Covid-19 advisory group, which will advise the government on matters related to the pandemic management. Read full story

PARIS: Officials sought to ease concerns in Europe on Sunday about deliveries of coronavirus vaccines as nations across the world doubled down on restrictions to fight the rampaging pandemic.