These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
Shortage of masks, alcohol gel amid fears of Novel Coronavirus outbreak
Demand for surgical face masks and hand sanitisers has dramatically increased in the local market as the panic attack resulting from the new deadly Novel Coronavirus outbreak, with the existence of one confirmed case in the Kingdom’s coastal Sihanoukville revealed on Monday evening.
It’s also known 3,000 people flew into Cambodia from Wuhan, the heart of the feared pandemic, as the Chinese city was being quarantined.
People wearing masks have become a common sight on Phnom Penh’s streets in recent days as country after country has seen people diagnosed with the mystery illness that has killed more than 100 people and infected more than 4,600 worldwide. – Khmer Times
Experts: Don’t spread rumours
Health experts tell Malaysians they can play a positive role to prevent fake news from exacerbating the novel coronavirus outbreak by not spreading rumours and unverified information.
The experts say they support the efforts of the Health Ministry in protecting Malaysians and are confident with the leadership in the ministry. – The Star
Lao Climbs Two Spaces in 2019 Corruption Index
Lao has been ranked 130th on the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI,) two places above last year, becoming one of a few countries in Southeast Asia to see less corruption.
CPI, released by Transparency International, ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and businesspeople. – The Laotian Times
Taguig Artists spend 18 hours painting mural to honor Bryant, daughter
“I hope Kobe sees this mural from above,” said Darwin Domingo, a 45-year-old artist and part-time basketball coach. Along with 14 other artists and 20 volunteers, he had spent the last 18 hours painting a larger-than-life mural of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna on the basketball court of the Tenement housing unit in Taguig City. Bryant and his daughter were among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash in California on Monday morning (Philippine time). The black-white-and-gray mural was the Tenement Visual Artists’ way of honoring their memory.
This was not the first time the courtyard of the housing facility had hosted a mural of NBA stars. The artists group’s previous subjects had included Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Lebron James. – Philippine Daily Inquirer
'Treat them politely': Indonesia still welcomes visitors from China amid virus outbreak
Despite concerns about possible human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus, the government has said that the country is still open to visitors from China and that there are as yet no plans to restrict travel from the entire country.
Tourism Minister Wishnutama Kusbandio said on Monday that there were no plans to bar Chinese tourists from entering Indonesia, with the exception of those coming from Wuhan and the province of Hubei, where the fast-spreading virus was first identified. – The Jakarta Post