He also announced that his government had just signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to obtain 6.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, enough to cover 10 per cent of Malaysia’s population…reports Asian Lite News
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday that he will be among the first to receive a vaccine against the novel coronavirus in a bid to convince people that it is safe and effective.
In a video message, Muhyiddin explained that his vaccination would be followed by health front liners and high-risk groups such as the elderly, those with non-communicable diseases and chronic respiratory diseases, reports Xinhua news agency.
He also announced that his government had just signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to obtain 6.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, enough to cover 10 per cent of Malaysia’s population.
The latest agreement added to vaccines already enough to cover 30 per cent of the population secured by the Malaysian government through the agreement with drug maker Pfizer and the participation in COVAX, an international initiative aimed at ensuring equitable global access to the vaccines.
He also said the government is in advanced negotiations with other vaccine providers to secure enough vaccines in total to cover 80 per cent of the population.
According to Muhyiddin, the country’s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) will continue to monitor the effectiveness and safety of vaccines once they are obtained and used.
Muhyiddin also reminded people to adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been outlined and practice frequent hand washing, wearing of face masks and maintaining physical distancing.
Malaysia has so far reported 95,327 confirmed coronavirus cases and 438 deaths.
Jakarta’s Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria also emphasized that there would be no year-end celebrations in the capital city this year…reports Asian Lite News
Indonesia has imposed stricter restrictions until January 8, 2021 to prevent a spike in Covid-19 cases after the Christmas and year-end holiday seasons, officials said on Sunday.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the number of daily cases and deaths rose after long holidays at the end of October this year, especially in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Bali and South Kalimantan, reports Xinhua news agency.
“Previously, the trend of the cases in these areas had decreased,” Pandjaitan, concurrently a deputy chairman of the National Committee for the Covid-19 Mitigation and Economic Recovery, told a meeting with ministers and regional heads.
Every year in Indonesia, there is an exodus of people who work in major cities returning to their villages or towns of origin for family gatherings or just travelling during the Christmas and year-end holidays.
This time, to deal with the exodus during the pandemic, the government has banned celebrations and gatherings of more than five people in public areas, and limited hours of service activities.
Jakarta’s Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria also emphasized that there would be no year-end celebrations in the capital city this year.
The Jakarta administration has also limited operational hours for offices, malls, cafes, restaurants, places of interest and tourist attractions to 7 p.m. local time with a maximum capacity of 50 per cent each.
The central government also required people travelling to Jakarta and Yogyakarta province during that period to show negative antigen rapid test results.
National Cocid-19 Task Force’s spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said the rise in the COVID-19 cases did not only occur during the long weekend last October but also happened after the Eid al-Fitr holidays in May and the Independence Day vacation in August this year.
The spike in the cases could trigger next impacts such as fully occupied hospitals and increases in medical workers’ burdens, Adisasmito said.
Meanwhile, the occupancy rates of isolation rooms and intensive care units at hospitals in several areas have exceeded 70 per cent due to the soaring number of daily cases.
Adisasmito noted that the average active cases in December were recorded at 14.39 per cent of the total cases, up from 13.78 per cent last month.
So far, Indonesia has recorded a total of 657,948 cases, the highest in Southeast Asia, with 536,260 recovered patients and 19,659 fatalities.
Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo said the government would provide free Covid-19 vaccines to al citizens.
The President also emphasised that he would be among the first to be vaccinated in Indonesia to convince the public that the vaccine is safe.
The rocket will be filled with propellant and readied for launch in late December.reports Asian Lite News
China’s Long March-8 Y1 rocket was vertically transported to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province on Wednesday, according to the China National Space Administration.
Next, the rocket will be filled with propellant and readied for launch in late December, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Last week, China launched two satellites for the detection of gravitational waves into planned orbit.
The launch took place at 4.14 a.m. from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, reports Xinhua news agency.
The two satellites, which compose the Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) mission, were launched by a Long March-11 carrier rocket.
Thursday’s launch was the 355th mission of the Long March rocket series.
Without counting the migrant workers, fewer than 4,000 people have tested positive in Singapore…reports Asian Lite News
New data shows that 152,000 foreign workers – 47 per cent – have been infected.
In comparison, it is estimated less than 11 per cent of London’s population have been infected since the pandemic began, the BBC reported.
Without counting the migrant workers, fewer than 4,000 people have tested positive in Singapore.
The men, the majority of whom live in large dormitories where several men share a room amid cramped facilities, have essentially been quarantined from the rest of the population since cases exploded in April.
Over the past months, infections in both the general population and the migrant dormitories have dropped to almost zero and authorities have just announced a further easing of restrictions for the general population.
But Singapore’s foreign workers – typically low-wage migrant labourers from South Asia who largely work in the construction and manufacturing sectors – still face restrictions on their freedom of movement which will only be gradually lifted next year.
PIC CREDIT: IANS
“There is no justification for Singapore to treat migrant workers like prisoners,” Alex Au of the charity Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) said. “Many have been locked in for eight months.”
The new figure is a combination of the normal PCR coronavirus tests – which check whether a person currently has the virus – and a separate drive of serology tests which trace whether a person has had it at in the past.
Around 54,500 workers have tested positive in the PCR test while another 98,000 were found via the serology test. The previous number had been public before, while the latter was released only on Monday.
Singapore’s Health Ministry said that by August, the entire worker population had been tested at least once, with either of the two types of tests.
The ministry said anyone who tested positive was isolated including those that were found to only have carried the virus in the past. Authorities also said they provided the workers with medical care and assistance.
The combined 152,000 cases among the foreign workers make up almost half of the 323,000 workers living in dormitories across the island state.
PIC CREDIT: IANS
But with some 65,000 workers’ serology tests still pending, the percentage might still go up.
“These new figures don’t surprise us,” Mr Au said. “During the middle of the year, workers who tested positive were telling us that they were told to stay in their rooms and not taken into isolation. They remained in contact with their room-mates.”
“But this is history,” Mr Au said. “We’re more concerned that Singapore continues to treat the workers as prisoners even though the same statement by the ministry says that ‘since October, no new cases were detected in the dormitories on many days’.”
He argues that since the active infection rate is virtually zero and workers are tested regularly every two weeks, there is no reason to place such hard restrictions on them.
PIC CREDIT : IANS
The country’s first coronavirus cases were were registered in January but a meticulous contact tracing programme managed to keep the infections in check initially.
But when the virus began spreading among migrant workers, authorities struggled to trace and isolate all of the infected and numbers began to skyrocket in that community.
Out of Singapore’s 58,341 total positive PCR tests to date, 93% have been among that migrant worker community.
In response to the high infection rate, many of the dorms – often holding thousands of workers – were placed under quarantine in April, essentially locking the workers inside.
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.
