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July
Philippines to bar travel from Malaysia, Thailand to curb Delta's spread
Written by Nur YasminThe Philippines will suspend travel from Malaysia and Thailand, as well as tighten restrictions in the Manila area, in a bid to prevent the spread of the contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, the presidential spokesperson said on Friday.
The travel restriction will take effect from Sunday and run to the end of July, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a national address.
"This action is undertaken to prevent the further spread and community transmission of COVID-19 variants in the Philippines," Roque said.
The Philippines has previously banned travelers from eight countries including Indonesia and India.
To try and prevent further domestic transmission of the Delta variant, President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the capital region, an urban sprawl of 16 cities that is home to more than 13 million people, and four provinces under stricter coronavirus curbs until the end of July.
Indoor sports and conference venues, indoor tourist attractions, and gyms are not allowed to do business, while the operating capacity of indoor and al fresco dining has been cut.
In addition, children between the ages of five and 17 will not be allowed to leave their homes.
The Philippines has recorded 47 cases of the Delta variant, eight of which are active, and three deaths.
With nearly 1.54 million infections and nearly 27,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and casualties in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.
The Philippines reported 6,845 additional cases on Friday, the highest daily increase in four weeks, the health ministry said. (Reuters)
July
Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak throws harsh spotlight on Australia vaccine rollout
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's New South Wales state on Friday reported its biggest daily rise in new COVID-19 cases this year, prompting a tighter lockdown in Sydney and a request for additional vaccine doses which was rebuffed by other state leaders.
State premier Gladys Berejiklian characterised the escalating virus outbreak as a "national emergency" and raised the likelihood that stay-home orders for the country's biggest city would be extended beyond the current end date of July 30.
"There is no doubt that the numbers are not going in the direction we were hoping they would at this stage," Berejiklian said as she announced 136 new cases in the New South Wales.
The state had urged the federal government to divert additional vaccine doses to Sydney, a request Prime Minister Morrison turned down following a national cabinet meeting with all state heads.
Australia boasted another record day for COVID-19 vaccination with almost 200,000 doses delivered in one day. Morrison, who on Thursday apologised for the slow pace of inoculation, said the latest data signalled the country's vaccination rollout had turned a corner.
"We are not going to disrupt the vaccination programme around the rest of the country," Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
Total infections in Australia's worst outbreak this year have jumped to just over 1,900 since the first case was detected in a Sydney limousine driver transporting international flight crews in mid-June.
Crucially, at least 53 of the new cases in Sydney were infectious in the community before being diagnosed. Authorities have said that figure needs to be near zero for the to be lifted.
The outbreak of the fast-moving Delta variant was carried to Victoria and South Australia states, forcing authorities to put more than half the country's population in lockdown. That has shut down large sectors of the economy, even as other parts of the world, including Britain and the United States, open up.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday suspended for at least eight weeks the so-called "travel bubble" with Australia that allows movement between the two countries without quarantine.
The Trans-Tasman bubble was a rare quarantine-free arrangement in Asia, where countries have kept their borders mostly closed during the pandemic.
Berejiklian said her health officials have advised that the situation in Sydney was a "national emergency," which would typically unlock federal funding and other assistance and would have to be formally declared by the federal government.
There are 137 COVID-19 cases in hospitals in New South Wales, with 32 people in intensive care, 14 of whom require ventilation.
Providing some relief, Victoria state officials reported a fall in new daily cases on Friday to 14, adding that 10 of those were in quarantine during their entire infectious period.
Stay-home orders in both Victoria and South Australia are expected to be lifted on July 27.
VACCINE ROLLOUT
With just over 32,500 COVID-19 cases and 916 deaths, Australia has fared much better than many other developed economies, but stop-and-start lockdowns and a sluggish vaccine rollout have frustrated residents.
About 15% of adult Australians have been fully vaccinated, a rate that is well behind many other developed nations, partly after health advice changed over the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to rare cases of blood clots among some recipients.
The government is targeting full vaccination of the adult population by the end of the year.
The vaccine programme could be further complicated after New South Wales health authorities said they may need to push out the interval between doses of Pfizer from three to six weeks, in order to free up more first doses, a stance Morrison backed on Friday afternoon.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday said the country's drug regulator has approved the use of Pfizer's (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 12 to 15. (Reuters)
July
Cambodia's cyclos bring meals on three wheels to virus-hit Phnom Penh
Written by Nur Yasmin
"Take what you need, donate what you can" is the slogan written on a glass-fronted cabinet full of food, water, and essential daily items carried by Cambodian cyclo taxi driver Chim Prich.
Hit hard by coronavirus movement restrictions, Cambodian cyclo drivers are flocking to the streets of the capital, Phnom Penh, with mobile food banks that allow residents crippled by the pandemic's economic hardships to pick up free food and essentials.
"Thanks to the kindness of those more fortunate who provided these foods and necessities, I can deliver them to poor people like trash collectors, beggars, street sweepers, and anyone else who is struggling to make enough money to buy food," Chim Prich said.
Cyclos, three-wheeled pedal-powered rickshaws, have long been a popular choice for visitors keen to take in the sights and enjoy the buzz of Phnom Penh at a leisurely pace. But the coronavirus pandemic's devastating impact on global travel has crushed tourist numbers, cutting driver's incomes.
Hao Taing, a 21-year-old student in Phnom Penh, came up with the idea of mobile food banks after seeing the cyclo drivers struggle.
"It brings me great joy to run this project, and I've received a lot of love and support from people both here and abroad," Hao Taing said. A full-time student, Hao Taing spends his days working on the project and his nights studying.
"It's not easy," said Hao Taing, who added that he hoped the initiative would help Cambodia's iconic cyclos survive the pandemic.
For their efforts, Hao Taing's organization Local4Local, which relies on donations, pays the cyclo drivers a small wage of around $17.50 a week to deliver food, water and other essentials to Phnom Penh's most vulnerable people.
The initiative includes 10, colorful, hand-painted pantries placed atop the cyclos that are then stationed across various points in the city so those in need can take, and those who have the means can donate.
"I feel like I've been reborn," said Ny Koy, a 63-year-old beneficiary of the project.
"No one has given food to me every day like this. I'm so thankful. Now I can sleep well at night". (Reuters)
July
Myanmar to use Chinese vaccines to fight COVID-19 in border area
Written by Nur Yasmin
China is delivering two million COVID-19 vaccine shots to Myanmar this week to help fight a growing outbreak in the border area, officials said, as a spike in infections in the Southeast Asian country spills over into parts of southern China.
Myanmar has seen a surge in coronavirus infections since June and on Thursday reported 6,701 new cases and 319 deaths, both record highs.
Medics and funeral services say the real toll is far higher, and the outbreak has also been linked to scores of new cases in China's Yunnan province that borders Myanmar.
"Currently, the numbers of newly infected patients are increasing at the Chinese-Myanmar border," China's ambassador in Myanmar Chen Hai said on the embassy's Facebook page, noting pressure on authorities to contain infections in Yunnan.
The ambassador said he believed the countries would be able to cooperate effectively on the prevention and control of the virus on the border.
The current outbreak in Yunnan started on July 4, and has been concentrated in Ruili and Longchuan, two cities on China's border with Myanmar.
The outbreak marks the second cluster of infections in China involving the highly contagious Delta strain, following an outbreak in southern Guangdong province through May and June.
Yunnan vice-governor Zong Guoying promised this week to establish a "fortress of iron" to stop further transmissions as he visited Ruili.
The United Nations said in a report on Monday it was stepping up efforts to combat an "alarming spike" in COVID-19 cases in Myanmar and expected the country to receive enough vaccines via the COVAX facility this year for 20% of the population.
The first batch of 736,000 doses of the donated Sinopharm vaccines being flown into Myanmar arrived at Yangon's airport on Thursday.
Myanmar's Union Minister Thet Khaing Win said the priority would be to vaccinate those living near the border with China to ensure smooth trade flows in the area, the state Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
The minister said that China was donating two million vaccine doses in three installments this week, with a further four million purchased doses due to arrive between July and August, the paper reported. (Reuters)
July
Tajikistan says it's ready to take in up to 100,000 Afghan refugees
Written by Nur Yasmin
Tajikistan is preparing to take in up to 100,000 refugees from neighbouring Afghanistan where fighting has escalated as United States-led troops withdraw, a senior Tajik official said on Friday.
Taliban insurgents are gaining control of more and more territory in Afghanistan, which the Pentagon estimates now extends to over half of Afghanistan's district centres.
Imomali Ibrohimzoda, deputy head of Tajikistan's emergencies committee, told a briefing on Friday the former Soviet republic was already building two large warehouses to store supplies for refugees in the Khatlon and Gorno-Badakhshan provinces adjacent to the border.
A few hundred Afghan civilians fled to Tajikistan this month but the Dushanbe government says they have already returned to Afghanistan. (Reuters)
July
U.S. seeks 'reliable, predictable' way forward with N. Korea
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States is seeking a "reliable, predictable and constructive" way to secure progress in stalled denuclearisation talks with North Korea, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Friday.
Sherman made the remarks following a meeting with South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun in Seoul on the second leg of her Asian tour.
The two sides discussed how to reopen negotiations after North Korea brushed off the Biden administration's proposals for talks, casting a cloud over prospects for dismantling its nuclear and missile programmes.
"We are looking forward to a reliable, predictable, constructive way forward with the DPRK," Sherman told reporters, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"We all feel for the people of the DPRK who are indeed facing all of the most difficult circumstances given the pandemic and what it means as well for their food security."
While North Korea has not reported any coronavirus cases, leader Kim Jong Un said the food situation was "tense," citing the pandemic that led to North Korea closing its border with China, disrupting trade, and a typhoon last year that damaged crops.
Sherman, who has considerable experience in dealing with North Korea, said the United States had offered to "sit and dialogue", reiterating hopes she expressed on Thursday for an early response.
Sherman said despite "complicated" relations with China, she was looking forward to discussing the North Korea issue when she goes to Beijing on Sunday.
"It has aspects that are competitive. It has aspects where it is challenging and aspects where we can cooperate," she said, referring to Sino-U.S. ties.
"Thinking together about bringing the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula is certainly an area for cooperation."
Sherman also called for more cooperation between South Korea and the United States on tackling the coronavirus and climate change and building "secure and resilient" supply chains for semiconductors and 5G telecom networks.
Choi said U.S. leadership, South Korea's capabilities and Japan's financial resources should be combined to address issues such as the pandemic and climate change.
Both sides agreed to intensify efforts to ramp up global COVID-19 vaccine supplies in line with a vaccine partnership forged during a summit in May between President Moon Jae-in and President Joe Biden, South Korea's foreign ministry said.
Sherman met Moon and other top officials after arriving in Seoul from Tokyo late on Wednesday and is scheduled to leave for Mongolia on Friday before visiting China. (Reuters)
July
Bubble burst: New Zealand suspends quarantine-free travel with Australia
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand will pause its quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia for at least eight weeks starting Friday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as Australia fights an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta virus variant.
"We've always said that our response would evolve as the virus evolved. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but it is the right decision to keep New Zealanders safe," Ardern told reporters in Auckland.
The "travel bubble" had already been paused for travellers to and from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
The bubble was a rare two-way quarantine-free arrangement in Asia, where countries have kept their borders mostly closed during the pandemic. Plans for a Singapore-Hong Kong bubble have been delayed several times.
Demand for flights between Australia and New Zealand has been more subdued than anticipated since the bubble opened on April 19.
Scheduled airline capacity between Australia and New Zealand this month is about 44% of 2019 levels, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, well below initial forecasts of more than 70%.
Air New Zealand Ltd (AIR.NZ) and Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) have been the only operators on the route, and several pauses in the bubble because of small outbreaks dented consumer confidence.
The travel bubble had been launched as test-free as well as quarantine free, but New Zealand this month introduced a testing requirement that made it more costly for Australians to visit.
Air New Zealand said the suspension of the travel bubble was expected to have a short-term operational and financial impact on its business.
The New Zealand government said for the next week there will be return flights for New Zealanders from all Australian states and territories that will require proof of a negative pre-departure test. Passengers arriving from Sydney will be required to spend two weeks in government-managed quarantine.
Qantas and Air New Zealand said that starting July 31, most Australia-New Zealand services would be cancelled, and that they would maintain a small number of flights for essential travel and freight. (Reuters)
July
Vaccinated people in Singapore make up three-quarters of recent COVID-19 cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
Three-quarters of Singapore's COVID-19 infections in the last four weeks were among vaccinated individuals, government data shows, as a rapid ramp-up in the city state's inoculations leaves fewer people unvaccinated.
inoculations leaves fewer people unvaccinated.
While the data shows that vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe cases, it also underscores the risk that even those inoculated could be contagious, so that inoculation alone may not suffice to halt transmission.
Of Singapore's 1,096 locally transmitted infections in the last 28 days, 484, or about 44%, were in fully vaccinated people, while 30% were partially vaccinated and just over 25% were unvaccinated, Thursday's data showed.
While seven cases of serious illness required oxygen, and another was in critical condition in intensive care, none of the eight had been fully vaccinated, the health ministry said.
"There is continuing evidence that vaccination helps to prevent serious disease when one gets infected," the ministry said, adding that all the fully vaccinated and infected people had shown no symptoms, or only mild ones.
Infections in vaccinated people do not mean vaccines are ineffective, experts said.
"As more and more people are vaccinated in Singapore, we will see more infections happening among vaccinated people," Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
"It is important to always compare it against the proportion of people who remain unvaccinated...Suppose Singapore achieves a rate of 100% fully vaccinated...then all infections will stem from the vaccinated people and none from the unvaccinated."
Singapore has already inoculated nearly 75% of its 5.7 million people, the world's second-highest after the United Arab Emirates, a Reuters tracker shows, and half its population is fully vaccinated.
As countries with advanced vaccination campaigns prepare to live with COVID-19 as an endemic disease, their focus is turning to preventing death and serious diseases through vaccination.
But they are grappling with how to differentiate public health policies, such as mask-wearing, between the vaccinated and those who are not.
Both Singapore and Israel, for example, reinstated some curbs recently to battle a surge in infections driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, while England lifted almost all restrictions this week, despite high caseloads.
"We've got to accept that all of us will have to have some restrictions, vaccinated or not vaccinated," said Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at Canberra Hospital in the Australian capital.
"It's just the restrictions are likely to be higher for those unvaccinated than vaccinated people, but that may still mean they have mask mandates indoors, for instance."
The Singapore data also showed that infections in the last 14 days among vaccinated people older than 61 stood at about 88%, higher than the figure of just over 70% for the younger group.
Linfa Wang, a professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, said elderly people had been shown to have weaker immune responses upon vaccination.
In Israel, which also has a high vaccination rate, about half of the 46 patients hospitalised in severe condition by early July had been vaccinated, and the majority were from risk groups, authorities said.
It was not immediately clear if the Singapore data reflected reduced protection offered by vaccines against the Delta variant, the most common form in the wealthy city-state in recent months.
Two doses of vaccine from Pfizer (PFE.N)-BioNTech (22UAy.DE) or AstraZeneca (AZN.L) are nearly as effective against Delt
a as against the previously dominant Alpha variant, according to a study published this week.
Singapore uses the Pfizer and Moderna (MRNA.O) vaccines in its national vaccination programme.
Friday's 130 new locally-transmitted infections were off this week's 11-month high. The recent rise in cases prompted authorities to tighten curbs on social gatherings in the push to boost vaccinations, particularly among the elderly. (Reuters)
July
Half of all Afghan district centers under Taliban control - U.S. general
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taliban insurgents control about half of Afghanistan's district centers, the senior U.S. general said on Wednesday, indicating a rapidly deteriorating security situation.
Insecurity has been growing in Afghanistan in recent weeks, largely spurred by fighting in its provinces as U.S.-led foreign troops complete their withdrawal and the Taliban launch major offensives, taking districts and border crossings.
"Strategic momentum appears to be sort of with the Taliban," General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.
Milley said more than 200 of the 419 district centers were under Taliban control. Last month, he had said the Taliban controlled 81 district centers in Afghanistan.
While the insurgent group had not taken over any provincial capitals, they were putting pressure on the outskirts of half of them, he said.
The government has accused the Taliban of destroying hundreds of government buildings in 29 of the country's 34 provinces. The Taliban deny accusations of extensive destruction by their fighters.
Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban on Monday to halt its offensives just hours after the rival Afghan sides failed to agree on a ceasefire at a peace meeting in Doha.
Biden has set a formal end to the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan for Aug. 31 as he looks to disengage from a conflict that began after al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Almost all U.S. troops, except those protecting the embassy in Kabul and airport, have left the country. (Reuters)
July
Vietnam produces first batch of Russian COVID-19 vaccine
Written by Nur Yasmin
Vietnam has produced the first test batch of Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund and Vietnamese pharmaceutical firm Vabiotech said on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country battles its worst outbreak so far.
The first validation samples taken from the batch will be shipped to the Gamaleya Center in Russia for quality control checks, the fund and the company said in a joint statement.
After successfully containing the virus for much of the pandemic, Vietnam is facing its worst outbreak, with a surge in daily infections to record levels adding to pressure on the government to shore up supplies and accelerate inoculations.
The Ministry of Health reported 5,357 new infections on Wednesday, up from 4,795 cases on Tuesday. The country has recorded 68,177 infections and 370 deaths overall.
A Vabiotech executive told Vietnam's state media on Wednesday that the quality check result of the batch of 30,000 doses would be available within 30 days.
Vietnam's health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said last month Vabiotech would begin packaging Russian vaccines from July, with a monthly capacity of five million doses. (Reuters)