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.
Testing for Covid-19 also aids surveillance of high-risk groups
Testing for Covid-19 allows for surveillance of groups of people that are at higher risk of contracting or transmitting the disease. This is in addition to diagnosing patients so they can be cared for appropriately, and facilitating contact tracing to contain the virus' spread. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday outlined these three purposes of testing in a virtual press conference by the multi-ministry task force set up to handle the coronavirus outbreak. Singapore conducts tests for surveillance across hospitals, polyclinics and general practitioner clinics, such as among patients who have already been diagnosed with pneumonia or have prolonged symptoms of an acute respiratory infection. A random testing programme, known as sentinel surveillance, is also used to pick up cases in the community that may otherwise go undetected. This programme is aimed at finding those who have the virus, but have very mild symptoms or none at all. – The Straits Times
Eight men nabbed in Jelutong for gambling during MCO
Eight men, including the owner of a barber shop, were detained this morning for gambling at a premises in Jelutong here during the Movement Control Order (MCO). All were trapped at the site and unable to flee when police surrounded the premises. State Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Zainol Samah said they raided the premises at about 2am following days of surveillance of gambling activities in the area. "Our checks showed the premises was used as a centre for avid gamblers to gamble despite the Movement Control Order (MCO) in place. "Their actions by gambling in a group, despite the MCO, showed they are challenging the law and have no fear of the Covid-19 virus," he said. In the raid, police seized playing cards, some cash and other gambling items from the men. Zainol said checks inside the premises found an assortment of soft drinks provided by the organiser. "All detained are in their 20s, and have been taken to the northeast district police headquarters for further probes," he added. – New Straits Times
Lockdown to linger
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has decided to extend the enforcement of the executive decree, the state's most powerful weapon against Covid-19, for another month but will allow some businesses, including shopping malls and hair salons, to reopen to ease the impact of business shutdowns. Some drastic measures implemented under the decree, including the six-hour curfew from 10pm to 4am and strict travel restrictions, will remain as CCSA chief and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha adopted what he called a "public health-led economy" by giving more weight to health safety rather than the pulse of businesses, CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said after the CCSA meeting on Monday. The premier stressed a need for precautions, but the CCSA resolution sparked some concerns among health experts, including Prasit Watanapa, dean of Siriraj Hospital's faculty of medicine, who warned the gradual lifting of the country's lockdown will cause the daily number of new Covid-19 patients to increase, albeit at a slower rate than that in the pre-executive decree period in early March. – Bangkok Post
Indonesia still using Zoom despite security flaws
Private employee Juliana Ekaputri, 26, said she was surprised after seeing a video last Friday from her colleague showing how videoconferencing application Zoom had caused her colleague’s computer to be hacked. The video reminded her that about a week before, she received a notification saying that someone had tried to log in to her Yahoo account. Upon hearing her co-worker’s story, she suspected that it was because she had used Zoom several times to contact her friends during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. She immediately uninstalled the Zoom app on her phone. “It is terrifying because most of my work data is on my phone as well as corporate email and mobile banking,” Juliana said. “I’m scared because it leaves open the possibility of something similar happening with other applications as well."– The Jakarta Post
House leader warns against cutting infrastructure budget
Every P200-billion cut in the infrastructure budget could mean the loss of almost half a million jobs, the chair of a key House committee said on Monday as he urged the government not to sacrifice projects like roads and bridges in the hunt for extra funding to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Rep. Joey Salceda, who heads the House ways and means committee, made the call amid a brewing feud between House leaders and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) over discontinuing infrastructure projects to raise funds for fighting the coronavirus. The plan sparked objections from lawmakers whose districts would be affected. “We estimate that every P200 billion in infrastructure can create up to 463,000 jobs [during] the year it is spent. Conversely, since the government is now the sole driving force of demand, a P200-billion cut in infra will cost 463,000 jobs,” Salceda said in a policy paper he shared with reporters. – Philippine Daily Inquirer
Q1 unemployment rate highest over the past five year due to COVID-19: GSO
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Việt Nam from the end of January, directly impacting the domestic labour market, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO)'s report on labour and jobs in the first quarter of this year. Unemployment also reached the highest rate over the last five years, Vũ Thị Thu Thủy, head of the GSO’s Department of Population and Labour Statistics, said. In the first quarter, the number of unemployed people out of the working-age population was nearly 1.1 million, up by 26,000 people from the previous quarter and up 26,800 people year on year. At the same time, the income growth rate of labour year on year was nearly a half of the growth rate in the first quarter of last year compared to the first quarter of 2018. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, labourers without work contracts and unofficial employment are the most vulnerable, Thủy said. – Viet Nam News
No new cases reported in Myanmar for second day, authorities ready new test machine
The National Health Laboratory (NHL) and Department of Medical Research tested a total of 345 persons suspected of being infected with the virus in the latest batch but all the results were negative, records from the health ministry showed. The ministry said the installation of a Swiss-made Cobas 6800 M PCR medical analyser machine donated by AA Medical Products, Myanmar's largest pharmaceutical distributer, at the NHL is nearly 90 percent complete. The first tests using the machine are expected to be conducted in the first week of May. The medical analyser machine is said to be able to automatically, quickly and efficiently test over 380 people for COVID-19 within 8 hours and over 1300 people with 24 hours. From January 31 to April 27 morning, the government tested 6872 people for the disease, with more recent cases detected among those under quarantine. Currently, there are 54,234 people quarantined at 8156 facilities, 153 people quarantined at 141 hospitals and 2651 suspected and Person Under Investigation nationwide as of April 25, according to official records. – Myanmar Times