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.
Coronavirus: New contact tracing device and check-in system on trial at worksite
Surbana Jurong is trialling the use of a new contact tracing device and digital check-in system to have more visibility and control over the social encounters of Covid-19 patients to minimise infection spread at worksites. The move is said to be necessary to avoid contributing to another wave of infections and business shutdowns. The technology on trial is developed by Temasek Holdings-owned cryptographic technology specialist D'Crypt, and could potentially replace the national contact tracing device TraceTogether Token and digital check-in system SafeEntry at workplaces. Mr Wong Heang Fine, group chief executive of urban and infrastructure consultancy firm Surbana, said: "It is important for companies to have total control over the contact tracing process." This includes owning the data of people who had been in close contact with a Covid-19 patient and the places the patient had visited so that potentially infected workers can be isolated quickly and targeted areas can be closed off for sanitising without severely disrupting operations. – The Straits Times
PM: Cabinet still mulling MA63 constitutional amendments
Cabinet is still reviewing proposed amendments to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners of Peninsular Malaysia. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this in a parliamentary written reply to Datuk Liew Vui Keong (Warisan-Batu Sapi) who asked if the current government will re-table the bill at the Dewan Rakyat. "The government plans to complete the implementation review of the MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963) according to three phases, which are (firstly) a short-term plan (in less than one year, secondly) a mid-term plan (between one and two years), and (thirdly) a long-term plan (three years or more). "However, as of now, Cabinet has not made any decision regarding the proposed amendments to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution," he said. – New Straits Times
Govt lines up digital hub
The government is pinning its hopes on two major projects to achieve its goal of becoming a digital hub in ASEAN. A Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite business is being funded through an amendment to the Space Affairs Act and the country is expanding its submarine cable capacity to make it more efficient for Thais to access digital infrastructure at an affordable price, says Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta. He told the Bangkok Post's "5G: The Game Changer" forum on Thursday that LEO satellites operate between 500- 2,000 kilometres above the Earth's surface compared to the 36,000km height of so-called geostationary satellites, the traditional types of communications satellites. "The advantage of the lower orbit is lower latency. It will benefit everyone with access to high-speed internet services via 5G technology, IoT [Internet of Things] devices, M2M [Machine to Machine] technology," he said. Other advantages include drone technology and applications in areas that require high levels of accuracy, such as remote surgery, and LEO satellite systems are ideal to power these applications due to their low latency. – Bangkok Post
Schools could become new clusters of COVID-19 transmission: Indonesian Red Cross
The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has urged regional administrations to set up preventive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in schools as students start to return to their classrooms. "Although school reopening is only allowed in green zone areas, we still need to think about the risks. As long as there are new [COVID-19] cases, there is a risk of transmission," PMI secretary-general Sudirman said in a written statement on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co. On June 16, the Education and Culture Ministry announced the country would allow phased reopening of schools located in COVID-19 low-risk areas, or “green zones”. Students in several parts of the archipelago returned to school on Monday, after months of studying from home, in accordance with the so-called “new normal” protocols in their respective communities. National COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo also said recently that the government was considering allowing schools in “yellow zones” to reopen because of high public demand. – The Jakarta Post
East Avenue Medical Center COVID-19 wards reach ‘critical level’
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) wards of the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City are now in “critical level” after reaching over 90% occupancy. This was revealed by its spokesman Dennis Ordoña on Friday, admitting that the surge of coronavirus disease patients started after Metro Manila was placed under general community quarantine (GCQ). “Around second or third week of June, the number of COVID-19 cases have increased,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo. “This is around the time Metro Manila was placed under GCQ. We can say that the admission of COVID-19 patients is already at critical level.” Ordoña added. At present, the hospital has allocated around 20% of its facilities and resources for COVID-19 patients. It will reallocate and reassign other wards to reach the allocation of 30% capacity in accommodating COVID-19 patients as required by the Department of Health. – INQUIRER.net
PM urges faster public investment disbursement
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has urged localities nationwide to hasten the disbursement of more than VNĐ633 trillion (nearly US$28 billion) of public investment this year. Strict penalties will be imposed on leaders of localities and sectors which postpone disbursement and investment will be transferred from localities and sectors with slow disbursement to others which disburse investment faster, he said. At a teleconference between the Government and localities on Thursday, PM Phúc said labourers are experiencing a tough time with many having their wages cut or losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Social and State investment remains low and disbursement is slower than the plan. This is one of the primary reasons behind the slow growth of the national economy. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first half of this year, three ministries, State agencies and nine localities had a disbursement rate of more than 50 per cent. The disbursement rate of 33 ministries and State agencies, as well as three localities, was below 20 per cent. – Viet Nam News
Dengue Cases Drop in First Half of 2020 Following Cyclical Peak
The Health Ministry reported a sharp decline in dengue and malaria cases in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, with health professionals attributing the relative drop in dengue cases to a lull following a cyclical peak last year. In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry said it counted more than 3,300 cases of dengue fever – a mosquito-borne illness that causes a high fever and symptoms including muscle pain, headache, nausea, vomiting and a rash – from January to June, marking an 88 percent decline in cases from the same period last year. The country has recorded only four dengue-related deaths so far this year, down from 32 reported in the first six months of 2019. “Dengue conditions in Cambodia are normal, under the good control of anti-dengue programming across the country, with intervention and full cooperation from related partners and people,” the ministry said in the statement. – The Cambodia Daily