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.
Pets found positive for COVID-19 must be quarantined
Pets owned by private individuals which have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 must be isolated and quarantined for 14 days for monitoring purposes.
Senior lecturer (veterinary immunology) and researcher in pet disease at the Faculty of Veterinary Science in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Dr Farina Mustaffa Kamal, said if these pets displayed any health issues during this period, their owners should consult the District Veterinary Services Department for further action.
She said although there was no evidence of pets spreading COVID-19 infections, they could themselves be infected by the disease as reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). – New Straits Times
Record 142 new coronavirus cases in S'pore; Indian national later confirmed to have COVID-19 died while awaiting test result
Singapore reported a record 142 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday (April 8), including a 32-year-old Indian national who was confirmed to have the virus after he died. The cause of death of the man is being investigated. The Ministry of Health said that he had been swabbed at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on Tuesday and advised to stay home to wait for the test results. His chest X-ray indicated that he did not have pneumonia. But the man died at home on Wednesday, with his test results coming out positive after his death. The new one-day high in reported cases once again included a large number of foreign workers living in dormitories.
A total of 40 cases announced on Wednesday are linked to clusters at dormitories. While no new patient clusters were reported, the existing cluster at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol added 20 more cases. It now has 118 cases - the largest cluster here so far. – The Straits Times
CCSA defends tests
Thailand has defended its coronavirus testing procedure, saying it is effective even if the country adopts selective screening rather than focuses on the quantity of tests. The clarification was made on Wednesday after critics cast doubts over the number of daily new cases which have remained low for two days, though the number increased to 111 on Wednesday due to a group of Thai-Muslim pilgrims returning from Indonesia in which 42 people were infected. New cases dropped from over 100 to 51 on Monday and 38 on Tuesday.
The test rate in Thailand currently stands at 1,079 cases per one million population while the infection rate is at 2.8% of people tested. The rate of infection discovery is not different from South Korea despite the fact South Korea conducted many more tests, as high as 9,099 cases per one million population while its infection rate stood at 2.19%, said Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). "The point is we've conducted selective screening, not sampling in order to conduct as many tests as we can," Dr Taweesin said. – Bangkok Post
Government to expand PCR testing for coronavirus
The government is ramping up efforts to carry out mass, rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing amid concerns the world’s fourth-most populous nation lags woefully behind other countries in testing people for COVID-19.
The Health Ministry issued a circular on Tuesday allowing public hospital laboratories, public and private clinical laboratories, as well as state-owned virology laboratories and university research laboratories to conduct PCR testing as long as they meet level-two biosafety (BSL-2) standards for testing SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and have the necessary equipment and facilities. The decision came after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday called on the Health Ministry and the COVID-19 task force to improve and accelerate PCR testing, which scientists say is crucial in the battle against the deadly pandemic. – The Jakarta Post
PhilHealth asked to restore no cost limit for COVID-19 patients
A lawmaker on Thursday called on the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to restore its no cost limit for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez made the call after PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales released a new case rate package for COVID-19 patients who will be hospitalized starting April 15. The move, Rodriguez said, will put the poor at a disadvantage and might push them to not consult with hospitals for fear of additional expenses.
“I am worried of the poor and even the middle class who certainly cannot afford hospitalization and medicines which, based on the account of some who have recovered from the disease, can run to more than a million pesos,” Rodriguez said in a statement. – Philippine Daily Inquirer