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Friday, August 14, 2020, 22:53
Thailand shelves 'travel bubble' plan as virus case numbers rise
By Agencies
Friday, August 14, 2020, 22:53 By Agencies

In this photo taken on July 31, 2020, a Thai visitor wearing a face mask looks at the 14th century Wat Mahathat temple complex in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. (PHOTO / AFP)

SINGAPORE / SEOUL / CAIRO / RAMALLAH / DAMASCUS / JAKARTA / KATHMANDU / HANOI / TEHRAN / YEREVAN / BISHKEK / TOKYO / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI - Thailand on Friday reported a whopping 17 new COVID-19 cases, all now under state quarantine, with 15 of them being Thais who have recently returned from India.

According to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the cases from India include nine men and six women.

All the 15 tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug 12, while they were in state quarantine in Thailand's eastern province of Chon Buri, and were all asymptomatic, said Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, the CCSA spokesman.

The other two were a Thai returnee from the United States and a Thai student who returned from Australia.

Taweesin said the government's Travel Bubble Plan is now shelved as second wave infections are sweeping across many countries including New Zealand.

Cumulative infections in Thailand, to date, are 3,376, with 3,173 recoveries and 58 deaths, while 145 others are still being treated in hospitals.

New Zealand

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the lockdown of New Zealand’s largest city Auckland for 12 days as authorities try to stamp out the nation’s first outbreak in more than three months.

Under the level 3 restrictions, people will be urged to stay home and consumer-facing businesses will be shuttered until Aug 26. Across the country, level 2 restrictions that include social distancing and gathering limits, will also be extended until the same day.

The move is in line with New Zealand’s philosophy of “going hard and going early,” Ardern told reporters. To help people cope with the economic shock of the lockdown, a wage subsidy program and mortgage payment deferral scheme will be extended.

After eradicating community transmission, New Zealand’s 102-day Covid-free run ended this week when an initial four new cases were detected in an Auckland household. Ardern responded to the fresh outbreak by putting Auckland, a city of 1.6 million people and a hub of commerce, into an initial three day lockdown and reimposed social distancing rules across the rest of the country.

The prime minister said she will make a decision on whether to delay the Sept. 19 election within 48 hours.

New Zealand recorded 12 new confirmed local cases of the coronavirus on Friday including 2 in the North Island town of Tokoroa. That takes the cluster, all linked to the Auckland outbreak, to 30, including one probable case. The nation now has 48 active cases, which includes 18 people who tested positive during the 14-day quarantine that’s mandatory for anyone returning to the country from overseas.

READ MORE: New cases end New Zealand's 'COVID-free' status

Armenia 

Armenia reported 229 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 41,023, according to the country's National Center for Disease Control.

Data from the center showed that 405 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 33,897.

Cambodia

Cambodia on Friday confirmed one new imported case of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 273, said a Health Ministry's statement.

The latest case was detected on a 51-year-old Cambodian woman, who arrived in the country on July 31 from the United States via a connecting flight in South Korea, the statement said.

DPRK

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un has lifted a three-week lockdown in the city of Kaesong after a suspected case of the novel coronavirus there, state media reported on Friday, without saying if it had been confirmed or was a false alarm.

The DPRK has not reported any cases of the coronavirus and Kim told a ruling party politburo meeting on Thursday the country had to be vigilant and decline any offer of foreign aid to battle flooding to keep the virus at bay.

India

Total COVID-19 cases in India have crossed 2.4 million, reaching 2,461,190, as the total deaths crossed the 48,000-mark, reaching 48,040, according to the data released by the federal health ministry on Friday.

During the past 24 hours, as many as 64,553 new cases were added to the tally, and 1,007 deaths were registered.

Currently there are 661,595 active cases in India. A total of 1,751,555 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals.

Students wear face masks to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus as they use free wifi to access an online lesson inside a temporary tent in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug 12, 2020. In some area of the country, students are still yet to go to school due to the coronavirus. (ACHMAD IBRAHIM / AP)

Indonesia

Indonesia must use the pandemic to reboot Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, including by improving food and energy security, as well as processing more natural resources at home, President Joko Widodo said on Friday.

The government expects the economy to post near flat growth this year due to the pandemic, which has infected over 132,000 people and caused nearly 6,000 deaths, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia. Last year, the economy grew 5 percent.

Widodo said accelerating reform of the health sector was a top priority, along with strengthening food supply chains, including with a newly planned food estate on Borneo island.

Under energy reforms, Widodo highlighted plans to slash expensive oil imports by using fuel made from palm oil.

The administration of the Indonesian capital Jakarta has again extended the transitional period of the large-scale social restrictions for the fourth time from Aug 14 to 27.

Baswedan pointed out that the positivity rate of the COVID-19 in Jakarta was recorded at 8.7 percent, but in accumulation, the rate is 5.7 percent, which is still above the World Health Organization's safety standard of 5 percent.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 2,307 within one day to 135,123, with the death toll adding by 53 to 6,021, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

According to the ministry, 2,060 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 89,618.

In this July 25, 2020 file photo, passengers head to their respective departure gates at the domestic terminal of Tokyo's Haneda airport. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)

Japan

Japan confirmed 1,176 new COVID-19 cases nationwide on Thursday, bringing the cumulative total to 52,603, as the resurgence continues during the Bon holiday season with people traveling to hometowns to visit relatives.

The daily figures remained high in the nation's large urban areas, with Osaka Prefecture reporting 177 new cases to a cumulative total of 6,355, while Tokyo's neighboring prefecture of Kanagawa saw daily cases jump by 123 to a total of 3,520.

Kuwait

The Kuwaiti cabinet said on Thursday it will start implementing the fourth stage of the gradual go-to-normality plan on Aug 18 and some activities that were set to open during the fifth stage including gyms, sport clubs, beauty salons and tailors will now be open as a part of the fourth stage.

The cabinet also decided to keep the nationwide partial curfew and to resume football activity in the gulf country without the presence of fans.

Kuwait decided in May on a five-phase plan to go back to normal life after restrictions the coronavirus outbreak brought to the country.

Kyrgyzstan

Laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 are decreasing significantly in Kyrgyzstan, indicating a downward trend, the country's Deputy Health Minister Mademin Karataev told an online briefing on Thursday.

In line with a decrease in patients with COVID-19, the number of observations are decreasing and makeshift hospitals are being closed, and some hospitals have been resuming operations as formerly, said Karataev. 

Laos

Laos has detected two more confirmed COVID-19 cases, with its total number rising to 22.

Lao Deputy Minister of Health Phouthone Meaungpak told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Friday that the two new cases were both Lao nationals who returned to the country from abroad on Aug 12.

Palestine

Palestine on Thursday said that with 433 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the country, the total number of cases has reached 20,526 since the outbreak of the pandemic in March. 

One of the newly discovered cases was registered in the Gaza Strip, for a Palestinian returning to the coastal enclave through Rafah border crossing recently, according to Gaza's health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qedra.

The Palestinian Health Ministry also said that an 8-year-old child and a 72-year-old patient of the novel coronavirus, who was already suffering chronic diseases, have died, bringing the total fatalities resulting from the disease to 116. 

Nepal

Critical COVID-19 cases in Nepal are rising rapidly as the pandemic spread among the elderly and people with existing health conditions, Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said.

According to the ministry, the number of people held at intensive care units (ICUs) and those who were on ventilators reached 96 on Thursday, a sharp rise from just 22 on July 29.

ROK

The Republic of Korea’s (ROK) reported 103 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, nearly twice as many as the day before, raising the specter of a new wave of infections that could undermine the Asian nation’s fine-tuned and much-touted handling of the pandemic.

Of the 103 new cases, 85 were locally infected while 18 were imported, according to the CDC. Most of the local cases are linked to flareups at churches, schools and traditional markets.

The situation is creating alarm as the transmission route is unknown for more than 13 percent of the cases -- low compared with many other Asian countries but more than double the rate of about 6 percent in May, when there was an outbreak at Seoul nightclubs. Health officials said the latest infections, mostly linked to church gatherings, may pose a greater challenge than the previous flareup, which was quickly contained.

The jump in cases comes as some of the most successful countries in containing the pathogen are now wrestling with sudden flareups -- a grim reminder that the coronavirus won’t be entirely stamped out without help from a vaccine. 

If the latest outbreak in the ROK worsens, it would be a setback in the global COVID-19 fight. Bolstered by its success with rapid testing and contact tracing, the country has been held up as a model for countries looking to manage the virus without having to resort to restrictive lockdowns. Once the world’s second hardest hit, the ROK touts one of the lowest infection and fatality rates among developed nations.

Singapore

Singapore and Japan made some progress in the resumption of essential business travel during the official visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi to Singapore from Aug 12 to 14.

Vivian Balakrishnan, minister for foreign affairs of Singapore, and Motegi welcomed the ongoing negotiations on the setting up of a "Residence Track" as early as September 2020, according to a joint press release issued on Thursday.

This will provide for a special quota of cross-border travel by business executives and business professionals with the necessary public health safeguards, including the 14-day stay home notice upon arrival in the respective countries.

The ministers also agreed on the major points on the Business Track, in which short-term business travelers will be subject to a controlled itinerary for the first 14 days, with the necessary public health safeguards. They tasked officials to finalize the agreement by early September 2020, with Singapore being amongst one of the first countries with which Japan will begin this exchange of business travelers.  

Syria

As many as 75 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Syria on Thursday, bringing the overall number of infections in government-controlled areas to 1,402, according to the state news agency SANA.

Citing a statement by the health ministry, SANA said 1,402 cases have been recorded in Syria since March, including 395 recoveries and 53 deaths.

Meanwhile, a total of 171 cases have so far been reported in areas controlled by the Kurdish forces in northern and northeastern Syria, according to local administration.

The Philippines

The Philippines will defer opening of classes to early October from end-August as coronavirus cases in the region’s worst outbreak surged to 153,660 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 6,216 new daily cases on Friday.

The postponement is meant to give the education department more time to ensure that virtual classes will proceed smoothly, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said in a memorandum Friday.

The DOH said that the number of recoveries further rose to 71,405 after 1,038 more patients recovered.

The death toll also increased to 2,442 after 16 more patients died.

Infections that are rising by the thousands and the unavailability of gadgets and Internet connection for some students are complicating moves to restart classes in the Southeast Asian nation.

ALSO READ: Vietnam reports 1st virus death as new cases jump by 45

Vietnam

Vietnam reported 25 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 905, along with three more deaths from the disease, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

The ministry also confirmed that three more COVID-19 patients had died, bringing the death toll in the country to 20 as of Thursday, noting that all the three patients, aged from 52 to 87, had underlying medical conditions.

Vietnam’s plan to privatise scores of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has fallen further behind schedule amid the pandemic, with only 37 companies divested so far out of a target of 128 in the 2017-2020 period, the Ministry of Finance said.

The Southeast Asian country has been seeking to speed up its privatisation of state-owned firms in recent years to improve their performance and to fill its coffers amid high levels of public debt.

Malaysia 

Malaysia reported 20 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Friday, bringing the national total to 9,149.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that seven cases are imported and 13 are local transmissions.

Health officials have also identified a new case cluster in Kedah state, traced to a policeman who infected a colleague, with two testing positive for the disease so far.

Another seven cases have been released, bringing the total cured and discharged to 8,828 or 96.5 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 196 active cases, four are being held in intensive care and one is in need of assisted breathing.

Bangladesh 

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh reached 271,881 on Friday as over 2,700 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

According to the figure reported by the DGHS under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2,766 new COVID-19 positive cases and 34 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

"The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 271,881, while fatalities stood at 3,591," it said.

The official data showed that 12,856 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 156,623, including 1,752 new recoveries on Friday, said the DGHS

Australia

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared that his country is "moving heaven and earth" to fight COVID-19 as a man in his 20s became the nation's youngest death.

Morrison told reporters on Friday that authorities were doing everything in their powers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria.

"There'll be no lack of commitment or effort. But guarantees in a global pandemic, if someone's offering them to you, then they're not being straight with you," he said.

"We're moving heaven and earth, as a country, at the moment, to ensure that we can deal with this. And we're in the fight. And we're going to win it. It's just going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort."

His comments came after it was revealed that a man in his 20s was among 14 people who died from COVID-19 in Victoria between Thursday and Friday, taking the national death toll to 375.

The man in his 20s, who has not been identified, is the youngest Australian to have died from the virus. Of the other 13 deaths 12 were linked to aged care facilities.

As of Friday afternoon there have been 22,743 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the number of new cases in the last 24 hours is 386, according to the latest figures from Department of Health.

Afghanistan

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Friday confirmed 75 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of patients in the country to 37,506.

A total of 408 tests were conducted within the past 24 hours, and 75 were positive in 11 provinces out of 34 Afghan provinces, the ministry said in a statement.

Six patients died within the period, taking the death toll to 1,369, the statement added.

The total numbers of people having recovered from the virus reached 27,166 after 452 new recoveries were recorded since early Thursday.

Laboratories across Afghanistan have completed 98,199 tests since February.

Iran 

Iran recorded 2,501 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 338,825 on Friday, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced.

The death toll from the virus in the country rose to 19,331 after 169 new deaths were added overnight, Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the health ministry, said during her daily update.

Out of the new patients, 1,173 were hospitalized, she said, adding that so far, there have been 293,811 recoveries, while 3,956 still remain in critical condition.

The health spokeswoman noted that 2,812,488 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Friday.


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