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.
Man who breached Covid-19 stay-home notice to eat bak kut teh convicted; DPP argues for 10- to 12-week jail term
A man who breached a stay-home notice (SHN) and travelled out of his home to eat bak kut teh on March 23 was convicted on Thursday (April 16) after pleading guilty to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act. Alan Tham Xiang Sheng, 34, is the first person to be convicted with exposing others to the risk of infection by breaching an SHN. Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Chin urged the court to sentence Tham to at least 10 to 12 weeks' jail to "reflect the seriousness of the offence" and deter others from committing a similar act. He will be sentenced on April 23. Tham was one of two people charged last week with breaching their SHN in separate incidents amid the coronavirus outbreak. The other man - Palanivelu Ramasamy, 48 - was charged with an offence under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 Stay Orders) Regulations 2020. – The Straits Times
More MCO violators nabbed in Butterworth
Some 38 people, including a woman, were detained for violating the Movement Control Order (MCO) in various parts here yesterday. Those detained, including four Myanmar and Bangladeshi men aged between 15 and 53, were found to have gathered in groups to chat while at least two were caught consuming alcoholic drinks. They were arrested at Mak Mandin, Teluk Air Tawar and Kepala Batas. Seberang Prai Utara district police chief Assistant Commissioner Noorzainy Mohd Noor, who confirmed the arrests, said despite repeated warnings given, people continue to violate the MCO. “Following stricter enforcement under phase three of the MCO, those detained will be brought to court to be remanded. “This is a serious matter. If the people continue to violate the MCO, then this will only result in the failure to break the Covid-19 chain of transmission,” he said today. Noorzainy also said that some of those detained also had previous criminal records. – New Straits Times
Relief cash only covers a month
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has stressed the government has yet to finalise the period for its 5,000-baht cash handout scheme to those affected by Covid-19, as the existing fund only covers one month. He said the government needs to wait for the enforcement of legislation to borrow one trillion baht so it will have more money to allocate to those affected. Earlier, the government said it would allocate 5,000 baht per month for three months from April to June to 8-9 million to temporary employees and self-employed workers hit by the virtual economic shutdown imposed to contain the virus. "Someone has exaggerated [the cash handout period]. I said on behalf of the government, it has yet to be finalised," he said in a live address via the government's Facebook page on Wednesday. His remarks came one day after 100 people who had been refused the 5,000-baht handouts flocked to the Finance Ministry to protest against the ministry's move to disqualify them. – Bangkok Post
COVID-19: Indonesia on hunt for PCR testing kits
Indonesia is struggling to acquire the necessary kits to conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing on a massive scale given the surge in global demand, the government’s spokesperson for COVID-19 affairs has said. Achmad Yurianto, who is also the Health Ministry’s disease control and prevention director general, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the government was scrambling to procure reagents from other countries as Indonesia’s current stock of reagents would only last a week. The supply would only be enough for 35,000 tests, he said. “The problem for our existing labs, which use open-circuit machines, is that the whole world is scrambling to acquire reagents for RNA [ribonucleic acid] extraction. Because these reagents are certainly used by all labs with open-circuit [machines]”. – The Jakarta Post
Gov’t to public: Stay within your city, don’t be picky in buying essentials
The government is appealing to the public Thursday not to be “picky” in buying essential goods and not to insist on getting supplies from larger supermarkets that are located outside of their localities amid the Luzon-wide lockdown against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Nograles, who also serves as the spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) handling the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, also asked the public to just follow the quarantine rules and not look for ways to get out their homes as the Luzon-wide lockdown reaches its “last stretch.” He said violating the rules now will put to waste the sacrifices of the first four weeks of the quarantine. – Philippine Daily Inquirer
Social distancing extended for high-risk localities, including Hà Nội and HCM City
Social distancing measures will be extended for 12 localities at high risk of COVID-19 infections, including Hà Nội, HCM City and Đà Nẵng, according to a new decision made by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. Along with three big cities, other localities classified as at high risk are Lào Cai, Quảng Ninh, Bắc Ninh, Ninh Bình (Trường Yên), Quảng Nam, Bình Thuận, Khánh Hòa, Tây Ninh and Hà Tĩnh. The social distancing period will last until April 22 or 30, or even longer depending on specific conditions. The National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control classified the 63 localities into three groups – high, medium and low risk. Fifteen localities at medium risk are Bình Dương, Cần Thơ, Đồng Nai, Hà Nam, Hải Phòng, Kiên Giang, Nam Định, Nghệ An, Thái Nguyên, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Sóc Trăng, Lạng Sơn, An Giang, Bình Phước and Đồng Tháp. Other provinces are in the low risk group. – Viet Nam News