According to a statement from the Health Ministry on Sunday, Myanmar reported 1,127 new Covid-19 cases with 23 more deaths in the past 24 hours…reports Asian Lite News
Myanmar’s The Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment for Covid-19 has announced the further extension of preventive measures against the coronavirus pandemic until December 31.
The authorities on Sunday said the extension will be applied to all orders, announcements, directives issued by the respective union level government organisations and ministries which will expire on December 15, as part of preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to a statement from the Health Ministry on Sunday, Myanmar reported 1,127 new Covid-19 cases with 23 more deaths in the past 24 hours.
The number of cases has increased to 108,342 while its death toll reached 2,268.
A total of 86,795 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals and over 1.43 million samples have been tested for Covid-19 so far, the Ninistry added.
Myanmar reported its first two positive cases of the virus on March 23.
Lai, 73, has been accused of conspiring with foreign forces to endanger national security..reports Asian Lite News
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was on Friday charged with foreign collusion under the controversial national security law imposed by China on the city.
Lai, 73, has been accused of conspiring with foreign forces to endanger national security, the BBC reported.
Founder of the the Apple Daily newspaper, he was originally arrested under the law in August after a police raid on the company’s head office but was released on bail.
However, he has been in custody since December 2, after being denied bail on a separate charge of fraud related to the lease of a building that houses the newspaper.
He will appear in court on Saturday.
Lai is the most high-profile person charged under the new law.
The national security law was enacted on June 30 to ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Addressing a press conference, Lam said that the her government’s goal was to provide free vaccination for the city’s entire population of approximately 7.5 million people..reports Asian Lite News
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday announced that the city will receive the first batch of a Covid-19 vaccine in January 2021.
Addressing a press conference, Lam said that the her government’s goal was to provide free vaccination for the city’s entire population of approximately 7.5 million people, reports Xinhua news agency.
The purchase volume of vaccines that the government aimed at was twice that of Hong Kong’s population, which will be enough for 15 million person-times, she said.
The Chief Executive added that the government has already reached agreements of procurement with two vaccine manufacturers.
Lam said that the first batch of 7.5 million doses will arrive in Hong Kong next month at the earliest, followed by another batch in the first quarter of next year.
The government will make full preparations for vaccination, which include carrying out registration for these vaccines in Hong Kong and arranging priority vaccinations for health care workers, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses, she added.
Hong Kong has so far reported 7,291 coronavirus cases and 114 deaths.
The term of the current parliamentary session is set to conclude at the end of January next year…reports Asian Lite News
Myanmar will hold the next parliamentary session in the first week of February 2021, state media reported on Tuesday.
The term of the current parliamentary session is set to conclude at the end of January next year, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to the 2008 Constitution, the first regular session of a new term of Parliament begins with the House of Representatives which needs t be held within 90 days after the commencement of the general elections.
Myanmar held its multi-party general elections on November 8.
The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, won the majority of seats in both Houses of the Union Parliament.
The 2020 multi-party general elections were the third of its kind held under the terms of the country’s 2008 constitution.
The general elections, which are held every five years, are to choose members of a new Parliament that will elect a President and two Vice Presidents and form a new government.
“The situation is more complicated than the last wave as infections scattered across Hong Kong and a number of clusters were involved,” said Lam…reports Asian Lite News
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday announced that in view of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic situation, social distancing measures will be further tightened, including the banning of dine-in services in restaurants after 6 p.m.
Addressing reporters, Lam said that the recent Covid-19 situation has been worrying, with 661 new cases reported over the past week, reports Xinhua news agency.
Patients in critical and serious conditions involved not only the elderly but also the younger people.
“The situation is more complicated than the last wave as infections scattered across Hong Kong and a number of clusters were involved,” Lam said.
She added that the number of untraceable cases has been rising which indicated that there is a lot of silent transmission in the community.
The city government will adopt more stringent measures to reduce people flow in public places to contain the spread of the virus.
Dine-in services in restaurants will be banned after 6 p.m., and work from home arrangements among civil servants will be strengthened.
Fitness centres, beauty parlours, massage establishments will remain closed, according to Lam.
To prevent importation of cases, visitors who arrive in Hong Kong are subject to a 14-day compulsory quarantine in designated hotels and they need to undergo another Covid-19 test five days after completing isolation, the Chief Executive said.
Hong Kong reported 78 new cases on Monday, taking its total tally to 6,975.
At least 1,122 infected patients are being treated in public hospitals and the community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo, and a total of 36 patients are in critical condition.
Speaking on a radio show, infectious disease expert Leung Chi-chiu urged the city’s residents to avoid going out, saying the outbreak would not otherwise be brought under control no matter what social-distancing measures were in place…reports Asian Lite News
A fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong due to a number of untraceable confirmed cases was getting worse and could last until 2021, experts said on Monday.
On Sunday, the city’s overall Covid-19 caseload increased to 6,897 after 95 new infections were reported, while the death toll surged to 112, the South China Morning Post reported.
Speaking on a radio show, infectious disease expert Leung Chi-chiu urged the city’s residents to avoid going out, saying the outbreak would not otherwise be brought under control no matter what social-distancing measures were in place.
“A lot of people are still going out and having gatherings,” Leung said, adding that it would be safest for residents to stay at home or else risk community transmission.
Also on Monday, Ho Pak-leung, a University of Hong Kong microbiologist, said the city government had not been cautious enough, adding that the fourth wave had been getting worse and it will not be under control before the end of the year.
Through the Open Innovation Network, Singapore brought together startups and corporates to address common industry challenges, and it has seen an increase in participation from companies based outside Singapore despite the coronavirus pandemic, said Heng…reports Asian Lite News
Singapore will contribute to global recovery by continuing to invest in innovation and working in collaboration with Asia and the world, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Monday.
Heng, who is also the coordinating minister for economic policies and minister for finance, said the country is committed to investing in innovation, and its government invests about 1 per cent of Singapore’s GDP on research and development every year, reports Xinhua news agency.
In his opening address at the Singapore Fintech Festival and the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology 2020 (SFF x Switch 2020), the Deputy Prime Minister said Singapore continues to deepen its capabilities to keep the tech eco-system vibrant.
“FinTech is one key area we are growing so that it can continue to develop as a global financial hub,” he added.
Heng announced the launch of the Asian Institute of Digital Finance at the SFF x Switch 2020, saying this institute will have a strong role in nurturing global FinTech talent for Asia, and will take in its first batch of post-graduate students next year.
The institute, hosted by the National University of Singapore and backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the National Research Foundation, will have a project to build a data-sharing platform that can train models to improve credit assessments.
He also announced the launch of Singapore Blockchain Innovation Programme, which is Singapore’s first major blockchain research and translation programme.
The programme will expand blockchain research to the needs of the industry, and will also look into scalability and interoperability of blockchain solutions.
Besides, Heng announced the launch of Singapore Financial Data Exchange, which he said is the world’s first public digital infrastructure that allows a person to sign-in using his national digital identity and provide consent to obtain his financial information from different financial institutions and government agencies.
Meanwhile, Singapore is strengthening collaboration.
Heng said through the Open Innovation Network, Singapore brought together startups and corporates to address common industry challenges, and it has seen an increase in participation from companies based outside Singapore despite the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our commitment to innovation and to work together will be key to driving economic recovery and growth,” he said.
SFF x Switch 2020 will continue till December 12.
According to the official website, this year’s SFF x Switch event will expand to become the world’s first week-long round-the-clock, hybrid digital and physical event for attendees.
The Prime Minister stressed that the capacity restrictions on sporting events and large public gatherings will also remain…reports Asian Lite News
Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama on Monday announced that an ongoing night curfew will continue to remain in effect as the island nation was still battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking in Parliament, Bainimarama said that the curfew from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. will remain for the foreseeable future as the fight against the health crisis is not over, reports Xinhua news agency.
He warned citizens not to downplay the pandemic and detract from reality, saying that every Fijian has a role to play when it comes to keeping the island nation free from the virus.
The Prime Minister stressed that the capacity restrictions on sporting events and large public gatherings will also remain.
The nightclubs which have been granted approval to operate as venues where people can eat and share drinks with friends must play by the rules, he said, adding that there should be no dancing and no loud music at these venues and if the rules are broken, they will be shut down.
Fiji, which now has 46 COVID-19 cases overall, reported its first confirmed infection on March 19 this year, and two people have died till date.
Since earlier this year, the country has closed its borders for foreigners and allowed strictly controlled repatriation flights in recent months.
Cambodia detected the country’s first-ever community transmission of the virus on November 28 among several members of the same family living in capital Phnom Penh and the northwest Siem Reap province…reports Asian Lite News
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that there the country will not declare a state of emergency although he had already drafted the request amid a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As the head of the government, I would like to confirm that there will be no request (to King Norodom Sihamoni) to put the country in the state of emergency wholly or partially,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Prime Minister as saying on a Facebook post.
He also added that there would be no lockdown in the capital city.
“I would like to appeal to the people to keep calm, not to panic, and to work with the government to fight against Covid-19 based on the guidelines set out by the Ministry of Health,” the Prime Minister further said in the social media post
Cambodia detected the country’s first-ever community transmission of the virus on November 28 among several members of the same family living in capital Phnom Penh and the northwest Siem Reap province.
According to a Ministry of Health’s statement on Monday, at least 32 Phnom Penh residents have been tested positive for the virus so far.
To stem the virus, the country has closed down schools, museums, cinemas, and arts performing venues nationwide and banned mass gatherings and weddings in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap province.
Cambodia has so far reported 348 confirmed cases, with no deaths.
