Tag: coronavirus

[South East Asia] Migrant workers should not be discriminated in terms of healthcare, says Malaysia’s health chief
17Jun By Our NewsroomNo Comments
World

[South East Asia] Migrant workers should not be discriminated in terms of healthcare, says Malaysia’s health chief

As the country battles to contain coronavirus outbreak, new clusters of infections came to light at three detention centres for undocumented migrants in Malaysia.This comes as Malaysia this month arrested more than 2,000 foreigners for not having permits that allow them to be in the country following raids in areas under lockdown. The centres they are detained in are often crowded, with dozens of migrants packed in a single cell, which makes social distancing impossible.“Migrant workers should not be discriminated in terms of healthcare,” Health ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said, adding that immediate medical attention and decontamination procedures at the centres, which hold thousands of detainees, is imperative."Negative sentiments against detainees must not be amplifie
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Myanmar’s auditor general cautions own govt against Chinese loans
17Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

Myanmar’s auditor general cautions own govt against Chinese loans

In a startling announcement, Myanmar’s auditor general has cautioned government officials about continued reliance on Chinese loans both pre-BRI and BRI loans that come with high rates of interest."The truth is the loans from China come at higher interest rates compared to loans from financial institutions like the World Bank or the IMF [International Monetary Fund]," Auditor General Maw Than said. "So, I would like to remind the government ministries to be more restrained in using Chinese loans."Myanmar's current national debt stands at about $10 billion, of which $ 4 billion is owed to China, Auditor General Maw Than told reporters in Naypyidaw on Monday. This can push Myanmar to debt trap like Sri Lanka and some African states. The country has to repay as much as $500 million annually t
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EU blames China for ‘huge wave’ of Covid-19 disinformation
15Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

EU blames China for ‘huge wave’ of Covid-19 disinformation

China has been accused by the European Union of running "targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns" globally, as the bloc set out a plan to tackle a "huge wave" of false facts about the coronavirus pandemic.At the height of Europe's coronavirus outbreak, French politicians were left furious when a Chinese embassy website claimed in mid-April that care workers in France had abounded their jobs and had left patients to die. It was also claimed, falsely, that over 80 French lawmakers had used a racist slur against World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus."I believe if we have evidence we should not shy away from naming and shaming," Vera Jourova, a European Commission vice-president, said. This is the first time an EU executive has publicly named China as a ...
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China reports 57 new virus cases, highest daily count since April
14Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
China

China reports 57 new virus cases, highest daily count since April

China reported 57 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, the highest daily figure since April, as concerns grow about a resurgence of the disease.Through strict lockdowns, the domestic outbreak in China had been brought largely under control early this year – but a new outbreak has been linked to a meat and vegetable market in south Beijing.The National Health Commission said 36 of the new cases were domestic infections in the capital, Beijing.The other two domestic infections reported on Sunday were in north-eastern Liaoning province, and local health officials said they were close contacts of the Beijing cases.“The capital should expand the scope of nucleic acid testing for the virus”, a city government spokesman said on Sunday.  He told a news conference that Beijing has entered an “ex
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Malaysia minister says ‘news’ that Singaporeans not welcomed is fake
14Jun By Grace TsoiNo Comments
Singapore

Malaysia minister says ‘news’ that Singaporeans not welcomed is fake

Malaysia's Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob has fallen victim to fake news claiming that he does not welcome Singaporeans to the country."The truth is, our borders are still closed to everyone, including Singaporeans, so such news is malicious," he said at his daily briefing on Malaysia's coronavirus situation yesterday. "This act can sour the relationship between Malaysia and our neighbour Singapore."Sabri also noted that his voice had been doctored in the offending tweet."I have lodged a report with the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)," he said.Malaysia has closed its borders to foreigners since March 18, when it implemented a partial shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.Although, it has since eased movement restrictions ...
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Parts of Beijing locked down, wholesale market shut after fresh COVID-19 cluster
13Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
China

Parts of Beijing locked down, wholesale market shut after fresh COVID-19 cluster

Beijing has returned to “wartime” footing and banned tourism, locked down 11 residential estates and shuttered a wholesale market after a fresh cluster of COVID-19 cases sparked fears of a new wave of infections.Chu Junwei, an official of Beijing's southwestern Fengtai district, told a briefing on Saturday that the district was in "wartime emergency mode".“Throat swabs from 45 people, out of 517 tested at the district's Xinfadi wholesale market, had tested positive for the new coronavirus, though none of them showed symptoms of COVID-19”, Chu said.A city spokesman told the briefing that all six COVID-19 patients confirmed in Beijing on Friday had visited the Xinfadi market.The capital will suspend sports events and inter-provincial tourism effective immediately, he said.“One person at an a
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Coronavirus has exposed ‘US-style human rights’ crisis, says Chinese report
11Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

Coronavirus has exposed ‘US-style human rights’ crisis, says Chinese report

The China Society for Human Rights Studies issued a report on Thursday terming the US response to the coronavirus pandemic as “self-interested, short-sighted, inefficient, and irresponsible,” saying that it exposed the long-existing problems within the country.In the report titled, “The COVID-19 Pandemic Magnifies the Crisis of US-Style Human Rights”, the Rights group said “inequality within the US society was being fully exposed during the pandemic."“The US response to the pandemic has not only caused the tragedy in which about 2 million Americans became infected with the virus and more than 110,000 have died from it, but also caused the exposure and deterioration of the long-existing problems within the United States, such as a divisive society, the polarization between the rich and the
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A look at China’s military amid COVID-19-induced economic slowdown
11Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
China

A look at China’s military amid COVID-19-induced economic slowdown

Due to the coronavirus induced economic slowdown, thousands of demobilized People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in big and medium-sized cities are currently facing unemployment or under-employment.Most of them, sources said, were demobilized between 2015 and 2018. Their number is said to be close to 300,000. Because of the 2016 decision, most of them were given only a lump sum payment.They were working as delivery boys, or as bearers in hotels, restaurants and salespersons in malls and shops etc. The technically qualified ones joined manufacturing units.There have been small size demonstrations asking for special help from the government by these ex-soldiers in various cities. “While not yet alarming, local authorities see these agitations as generators of negative sentiments against go
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Minister assures contact-tracing device will not track location of Singapore citizens
8Jun By Grace TsoiNo Comments
Singapore

Minister assures contact-tracing device will not track location of Singapore citizens

The wearable device for contact tracing in development by the Government to help curb the spread of Covid-19 will not track an individual's location, and those who prefer to use Singapore's contact-tracing app TraceTogether will still be able to do so, said Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan.“The device, which may be issued to everyone here, will be a small device that people can slip into their bag or pocket,” he said in the comments thread of a post on his Facebook page on Sunday.The announcement of this device comes after news that TraceTogether, which identifies people in close contact with a coronavirus patient via wireless Bluetooth technology, does not work well with Apple devices.The app is useful when those infected cannot recall whom they had be
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Malaysia to go into ‘recovery phase’ until Aug 31: PM Muhyiddin
7Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Business

Malaysia to go into ‘recovery phase’ until Aug 31: PM Muhyiddin

Malaysia's movement control order (MCO) imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 will enter a “recovery phase" beginning June 10 until August 31, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Sunday.Muhyiddin said the recovery phase is part of the country's exit strategy from the MCO, following a downward trend in the infection rate. "Malaysia has successfully contained the spread of the pandemic and will now enter the recovery phase," he said.Under the recovery, “almost all” social, educational, religious and business activities, as well as economic sectors will reopen in phases, with standard operating procedures to be adhered to, Muhyiddin said.“Interstate travel will be allowed, except for areas placed under enhanced MCO, while the country's borders will remain closed”, the prime minister s
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