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.
WHO: Take coronavirus more seriously
World health officials have warned that countries are not taking the coronavirus crisis seriously enough, as outbreaks surged across Europe and in the United States where medical workers sounded warnings over a "disturbing" lack of hospital preparedness.
Global markets tumbled again over concerns about the impact on the economy and as countries took more drastic steps to prevent contagion of a disease that has killed over 3,300 people and infected nearly 100,000 in some 85 nations.
Cases soared in Italy, France, Greece, and Iran, while a cruise ship was held offshore in California to test passengers showing symptoms of the disease - echoing a harrowing episode in Japan several weeks ago that saw hundreds infected on a luxury liner. – Bangkok Post
290M students out of school as global virus battle intensifies
Almost 300 million students worldwide faced weeks at home on Thursday with Italy the latest country to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus.
More than 95,000 people have been infected and over 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, which has now reached some 80 countries and territories. – Philippine Daily Inquirer
Cambodia puts 44 people under quarantine for contact with COVID-19-infected Japanese man
Cambodia’s health authorities have put 44 people under quarantine for having contact with a Japanese man reportedly diagnosed with COVID-19, said a Health Ministry’s Communicable Disease Control Department statement on Thursday evening.
A Japanese man reportedly tested positive on Wednesday for the virus after he landed at Japan’s Nagoya Airport. The man on Tuesday evening took a flight from northwest Cambodia’s Siem Reap province to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh city before taking a connecting flight to Japan. – Khmer Times
Hearing on IRB's bid for summary judgment on Najib's tax suit on April 17
On April 17, the High Court will hear a bid by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to have its tax arrears suit against Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be decided purely on points of law, without going for a full trial.
The suit filed by the IRB is for the recovery of RM1.69 billion in additional tax assessments from the former prime minister for the years 2011 to 2017. – The New Straits Times
Lao Citizen Revealed as Member of Korean Church at Center of Coronavirus Outbreak
A Lao citizen has been found to be involved with a Wuhan branch of South Korea’s Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is the center of an outbreak of new coronavirus or COVID-19 in the country.
During a press conference on March 2, Lee Man-hee, the founder and spiritual leader of the church, said the church has a total of 357 members at its branch in the Chinese city of Wuhan, one being a Lao citizen and the rest being Chinese. – The Laotian Times