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.
Two Singaporeans, US commercial pilot to be charged for breaching stay-home notices
Two Singaporeans and a United States commercial pilot are expected to be charged on Tuesday (April 21) for breaching the stay-home notices issued to them after they entered the Republic from overseas. The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) detailed the three cases in a statement on Monday. Each is believed to have left his or her place of accommodation during the 14-day stay-home period, which is not allowed at all under the Government's Covid-19 measures. The Immigration authority reiterated in its statement on Monday that it will not hesitate to take firm action against those who fail to follow stay-home requirements. – The Straits Times
Covid-19 hits more boys than girls in Sabah
More than half of the Covid-19 cases in Sabah are male, aged between 1 and 80. Sabah Health director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said 64 per cent or 196 people out of total cases of 306 reported yesterday were either boys or men. “As for the age group, most patients fall under the age category of between 19 and 40 (41.5 per cent); 41 and 55 (28.4 per cent); more than 50 (16 per cent). “(For children), 10.8 per cent are those aged between 6 and 18, followed by 3.3 per cent below 5-year-old,” she said in a statement. Yesterday, there were three new cases from Kinabatangan from the first generation of the Sri Petaling tabligh cluster. The district has 22 cases which include 9 attendees of the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering, 10 first generation, 2 second generation and one from the third generation. Sabah has now three red zone districts - Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Lahad Datu - that exceeded 40 cases. – New Straits Times
47 Thais back from Malaysia via Satun
A total of 47 Thai workers who had been stranded in Malaysia returned to Thailand via two immigration checkpoints of this southern border province on Sunday, the second day of the opening of the border to allow them to return. Of the total, 28 returned via the Tammalang checkpoint in Muang district in three groups. The first group of four workers arrived at the Tammalang boat pier on a chartered boat across the Sungai Kolok river from Perlis State, followed by the second group of 20 and the third group of four. They were received on arrival by Kongsakul Chantharat, the Muang district chief, Col Taweeporn Kanathong, commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion, and Pol Lt Col Suthisunthorn Saikhwan, deputy chief of the Satun immigration police. Another group of 19 returned via the Wang Prachan checkpoint in Khuan Don district. – Bangkok Post
COVID-19: Indonesia secures 50,000 PCR tests kits to expedite mass testing
As many as 50,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits arrived in the country on Sunday, which will help provide more accurate data on the rate of COVID-19 infection by increasing the scale of testing. Doni Monardo, the head of the National COVID-19 rapid response task force, said he was grateful for the prompt arrival of the test kits, expressing hope they would help the government detect more cases across the country. “We are grateful that in less than 24 hours we were able to secure 50,000 PCR test kits,” Doni said in a statement on Sunday. He said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had previously ordered the task force to conduct 10,000 PCR tests per day to expedite the detection of infected individuals and help curb the rapid spread of the deadly virus. – The Jakarta Post
Duterte meets with experts to decide lockdown
President Rodrigo Duterte is meeting with health experts and former heads of the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday to receive “critical information” that will help him decide whether to extend the Luzon lockdown anew or allow partial business reopenings to stave off an economic disaster. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Sunday that the critical information will be provided during the meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary government body that oversees the administration’s response to the new coronavirus pandemic. The government, Guevarra said, cannot wait until the entire country reaches zero transmission, “as by then we may have hit the tipping point where it would be extremely difficult to recover from the economic and social devastation.” – Philippine Daily Inquirer
No new COVID-19 cases reported for four days in a row
For the fourth day running, not a single new case of COVID-19 has been detected in Việt Nam. The total amount of people who have contracted the disease since the very first case in mid-January remains at 268. Of those, 202 have made a full recovery and have been given the all-clear. Although one of those cases, a 44-year-old woman from Hà Nội, has tested positive for a second time. She is currently being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases. Authorities are tracking and tracing people she came in close contact with after she was previously discharged. Out of the total amount of cases detected so far, 160 are imported from another country, either carried through a foreigner visiting Việt Nam, or a Vietnamese national returning home. The remaining 108 cases are all locally transmitted. – Viet Nam News