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.
Stay informed with The ASEAN Post.
Engineer who received first dose of Covid-19 vaccine among 2 community cases in S'pore
A 30-year-old Indian national who received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Jan 27 was among the two community cases announced on Monday night (Feb 8). The work pass holder is an engineer at Station Satcom and boards ships to install communications and IT equipment as part of his job. He was identified as a close contact of a previous case and was placed on quarantine between Jan 13 and 24. His swabs taken during quarantine and as part of rostered routine testing (RRT) - the last being on Jan 29 - were all negative for the virus. He developed fatigue on Feb 4 and a fever the next day, but did not seek medical attention, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). He was tested on Feb 5 as part of RRT and his test result came back positive the next day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). "While his serological test taken on Feb 7 has come back positive, this is assessed to be a recent infection as he is symptomatic, and the Ct value for his polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was low," said MOH. It added that the patient's first dose of vaccine on Jan 27 accounts for his positive serology test as he has likely started producing antibodies following vaccination. "As the vaccine does not contain live virus, he could not have been infected due to vaccination," said MOH, "It is possible for one to be infected just before or just after vaccination as it typically takes a few weeks for an individual to build up immunity after completing vaccination." The other unlinked community case is a 49-year-old bus driver who transports individuals placed on stay-home notice (SHN) from Changi Airport to dedicated facilities. His bus is disinfected after every trip, added MOH. The bus driver, who works at Cobb & Coach Services, developed a runny nose on Jan 31 but did not seek medical attention. He was detected when he was tested on Feb 5 as part of RRT. MOH added that his earlier tests from RRT - the last being on Jan 23 - were negative for Covid-19 infection and his serology test is also negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection. – The Straits Times
'Digital health passport option for travel bubble'
The use of a digital health passport, which is being considered by many countries, can serve as risk mitigation to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as the Malaysian government prepares to open its borders through the Reciprocal Green Lane/Travel Corridor Arrangement (RGL/TCA) agreement with Indonesia. The development came on the heels of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last week, with 500,000 healthcare staff to be inoculated against the virus in the first phase to begin by the end of February. Health experts, however, said the e-vaccination certificate, as suggested by the World Health Organisation, should not be treated as a perfect solution. Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said such a move would present challenges as data on the duration of the Covid-19 vaccination administered to the recipients before they could be allowed to travel were unavailable. "The desire for international travel is still strong despite the ongoing pandemic. Hence, there is a need to study options to enable safe international travel. "It would also depend on how successful our vaccination programme is. If most Malaysians are vaccinated and prevented from falling ill due to Covid-19, then border control can be minimal," he said. He, however, said it was premature to have the RGL with Indonesia until the pandemic was under control or until mass vaccination. Former Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan said while he welcomed the RGL, Indonesia should not be the first priority because the pandemic was still rampant. He said there was a need to balance safety precautions of closed borders with the essential need to travel. – New Straits Times
Govt accused of charter ploy
The constitutional amendment process is expected to be derailed as the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) and senators will seek a charter court ruling on whether the process is constitutional. A joint session of MPs and senators will today vote on a motion proposed by PPRP list-MP Paiboon Nititawan and Senator Somchai Sawaengkarn seeking the court's ruling. In the motion, they said they were concerned that proposed amendments to Section 256 of the constitution, which will pave the way for the creation of a charter drafting assembly (CDA), may be unconstitutional. The motion was signed by 47 senators and 25 MPs, all from the main coalition party, the PPRP, who claim parliament is not authorised to "make" a new charter and the most it can do is to make changes. Any action to allow the writing of a new charter would be unconstitutional, according to the motion. Chaiwut Thanakhamanusorn, a PPRP list-MP, said that government whips agreed that each political party in the coalition government will be allowed a free vote on the matter, while PPRP MPs will vote for the motion. A PPRP source said that key party figures were confident that the motion is expected to sail through parliament, given the support of 121 MPs from the PPRP and 250 senators –more than half of 728 of the parliamentarians. This would not necessarily need the support of MPs from other coalition parties, the source said, adding that senators wanted the court to rule on whether the CDA could write a new constitution. Wirach Ratanasate, chief government whip and a PPRP list-MP, said that parties in the coalition government may have differing views so they will be allowed a free vote. However, the support of PPRP MPs and senators alone would be more than enough to get the motion through parliament, Mr Wirach said. He insisted that the move to seek the court's ruling was not an attempt to delay the charter amendment process, but it was only meant to seek a clarification from the court which has a final say on the issue. Parliament adopted the two charter amendment bills – one proposed by the government and the other by the opposition – in the first reading on Nov 18 last year. – Bangkok Post
Avoid COVID-19 vaccines from black market, doctors warn
The sale of COVID-19 vaccines outside the government inoculation program feeds on the fear of not enough supplies arriving, prompting a group of doctors to warn the public against illegally sourced or counterfeit drugs. Dr Antonio Dans of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against Covid-19 (HPAAC) said the illegal sale of vaccines recently emerged in online chat groups, workplaces, and even in neighbourhoods across Metro Manila. “I’ve had patients asking me if they should already buy [a vaccine],” Dans said in an online conference on Monday. The talk of vaccines already available raises the question where these vaccines come from, as they are being sold for at least P1,000. Whether this is the cost per dose is unclear. HPAAC, which groups more than 160 health organizations, said this constituted a “black market” or a scam, since not a single vaccine had been registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing or commercial distribution. The FDA has granted emergency use authorization to only two vaccines so far – those of Pfizer and AstraZeneca – whose procurement and distribution should be made only through the national government. Aside from the risk of getting a vial filled with water, a vaccine that did not go through the Department of Health’s Technology Assessment Council loses government “culpability” in case of adverse side effects, the doctors said in the online conference. “It’s OK to enlist (for example on local government or company master list), but don’t pay,” Dans said. He warned the public against buying vaccines from the black market, as these have not been proven safe, effective or even genuine. “It can be a scam because you’re buying from people who are not authorized to sell vaccines,” he said. Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian said there could be “an influx of unscrupulous individuals selling unregistered or, worse, fake vaccines” with the expected arrival of COVID-19 vaccines this month. “We call on all cybercrime agencies of the government to be on the lookout for illegal and unregistered COVID-19 vaccines and pool their resources to apprehend opportunists who prey on the public,” Gatchalian said in a statement. HPAAC appealed to the public to stay with the national government’s priority list, which has health workers, elderly and people with comorbidities at the top. Private companies are most likely to fall on the bottom tier or with the rest of the population, even if a private initiative has secured 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through private donors and local governments. Half of this supply shall go to the national government for its distribution. HPAAC’s Dr Aileen Espina called on the public to watch out for people who would jump the line to get shots. “It is our duty and our responsibility to call out anyone who is cutting the line, to call out anyone who is not following the prioritization program of the government,” Espina said. The vaccination program must be done according to the need and not the “capacity to pay” to ensure equitable distribution, HPAAC said. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, speaking at her daily briefing on Monday, said the priority list would be strictly followed. “Nobody can jump the line because it is the national government that will give the authority if you can receive your doses already. We will inoculate first the priority sectors of the population,” Vergeire said. – INQUIRER.net
Airports nationwide on ‘highest alert’ following 30 new local COVID cases linked to HCM City airport
Airport authorities across Việt Nam have been told to take the ‘highest-level’ measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the Lunar New Year holiday, following 30 new locally transmitted cases identified recently at Tân Sơn Nhất international airport in HCM City. As many as 30 positive cases linked to Tân Sơn Nhất airport have been announced as of Monday morning. They were identified after the airport administered tests for all airport staff, following an outbreak that broke out in the north and has spread to 12 cities and provinces. HCM City on Monday morning organised an urgent meeting with city chairman Nguyễn Thành Phong to discuss preventive measures. In a related move, the Ministry of Health has recommended that HCM City apply Government Directive No 16, which was issued last year and required people to stay at home except for justifiable reasons and to close down all non-essential businesses, in the city’s high-risk areas. Võ Huy Cường, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said that travel demand has surged during the holiday at a time when new virus variants, which spread more quickly, have emerged. The CAAV has ordered airport authorities, especially Tân Sơn Nhất airport, airlines and agencies in the aviation industry to fully implement pandemic preventive measures in line with the Ministry of Transport, CAAV and the Ministry of Health guidelines. Medical screenings will be strictly conducted at the airport in line with the Government and Health Ministry regulations. Passengers who fail to comply with regulations on aviation security, conceal infections, or fail to fill in health declarations accurately will be punished under the Criminal Law. The HCM City airport has allocated staff to be on duty around the clock during the holiday. Airport staff are required to wear face masks while on duty, wash hands with alcohol-based sanitiser, have their body temperature checked, and disinfect surfaces regularly. All airport passengers must have their temperature checked before boarding, fill out a health declaration, and wear a face mask during the flight. They must also abide by social distancing measures at check-in areas and will be given sanitised wipes. All passengers must follow the Health Ministry’s 5K message: Khẩu trang (face mask) – Khử khuẩn (disinfection) – Khoảng cách (distance) – Không tụ tập (no gathering) – Khai báo y tế (health declaration). Authorities are considering to make it mandatory for everyone to strictly implement the 5K message in a move to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. All employees of Việt Nam’s 21 airports out of 22 airports were told recently to be tested for Covid-19. Of the 22 airports, Vân Đồn airport in Quảng Ninh Province, which has been receiving repatriation flights with a number of passengers testing positive for COVID-19, has been locked down since January 28 after a number of airport employees tested positive. It is set to reopen on February 13. Tân Sơn Nhất airport continues to operate normally but with strict preventive measures after identifying locally transmitted cases who are all airport staff. In the past 11 days, the country has recorded 422 community transmission cases in 12 cities and provinces. Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh provinces in the north top the list with 309 and 47 cases, respectively. In a few days, Vietnamese people will be celebrating the Lunar New Year, an occasion for family reunions that will see millions travel to their hometowns. Containment efforts could become more difficult to implement during the holiday period when big indoor gatherings are more common. – Viet Nam News
Priority groups set for jabs: Journalists among those to be given China-donated vaccines
The Ministry of Health said yesterday that the first batch of 600,000 vaccine doses which arrived from China on Sunday will be used to inoculate priority groups, including journalists, at four centres in the capital from tomorrow. In a press conference, the ministry said inoculations at Calmette Hospital will be for dignitaries, senior ministers, secretaries of state or equivalent. Ang Duong Hospital will inoculate dignitaries such as undersecretary of state or equivalent; the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital will vaccinate dignitaries as well as capital and provincial governors; and the National Pediatric Hospital will inoculate journalists. Or Vandine, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, said the vaccinations will start taking place from tomorrow with 300,000 doses being given to the Ministry of Defence and 300,000 to the Ministry of Health. The 300,000 doses the Defence Ministry is getting is for the armed forces, dignitaries, senior ministers, governors, secretaries and undersecretaries of state. The 300,000 for the Health Ministry is for health officials and journalists. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Sunday that journalists will be among the priority people to receive the COVID-19 vaccines in Cambodia, because they are active and mobile everywhere to hunt for information to the public. He made the announcement at a press conference at the Phnom Penh International Airport shortly after receiving 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the first batch of one million doses being donated by China. “Let the Ministry of Health consider this group of reporters to be vaccinated because they go to report on news everywhere and do not know when or where they could get infected, so I ask all journalists under the age of 59 to get vaccinated,” Mr Hun Sen said. “I will be the first woman to be inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine in order to give confidence and trust in this kind of vaccine,” Vandine said. She added that each individual had to be given two doses of the vaccine around 14 to 28 days apart and the ministry will use 150,000 of its 300,000 allocation during the first-round tomorrow. “For the Ministry of Health, we have to divide it into two phases, not inject two doses per person at a time,” she said. Vandine added that the use of the Sinopharm vaccine was prohibited for people under the age of 18 and over 59 years, especially for patients with respiratory problems, heart failure, pregnant women or women intending to have a baby. – Khmer Times
Military chief seeks to reassure investors as his regime threatens 'action' against protesters
One week after staging a coup against a newly elected government, the head of Myanmar’s ruling military council appeared on state television on Monday night to assure investors that the country’s economic policies would remain unchanged. Describing the coup as “unavoidable”, a tense-looking Senior General Min Aung Hlaing also promised to accelerate the country’s Covid-19 vaccination program and revive the stalled peace process. He made no mention, however, of the massive protests that have filled the streets of towns and cities around the country in recent days. That was left to the military’s True News Information Team, which released a statement earlier in the day warning that action would be taken against “wrongdoers” if the protests continued. “We should take action in accordance with the law in an effort to effectively prevent those wrongdoings that ruin and disrupt the state’s stability, public safety and law enforcement,” the statement said. “If there is no discipline, democracy will be ruined,” it added. But even as the regime was issuing warnings and the top general was promising that this coup would be different from those that had crippled the country in the past, the protests continued through the day and into the night. As Min Aung Hlaing went on air at 8pm, many took a now nightly ritual indoors, banging pots in front of their televisions to drown out the senior general’s voice as he promised to build “a genuine and disciplined multiparty democratic system” out of the ruins of the one that abruptly ended last Monday. Meanwhile, the third day of massive anti-coup street protests ended without any sign that the nationwide push to reverse the latest military takeover was losing steam. In the administrative capital Naypyitaw, tens of thousands gathered at the Thabyay Gone Centre, facing off against riot police and security officers deployed across the road from them. Chanting anti-coup slogans, the protesters told police they should serve the public, not the military, which had seized state power unjustly. As the size of the rally grew, police briefly turned two water cannons on the protesters. Thousands of civil servants from at least 10 government ministries and agencies, including the ministries of foreign affairs, education, and health and the anti-corruption commission, have also joined a growing civil disobedience campaign by staging walkouts throughout the country. “Our aim is to restore what we created and be able to shape a future without fear for our next generations,” one group of public employees said in a statement. Similar sentiments were echoed by employees of the ministry of investment and foreign economic relations who had joined the civil disobedience campaign. In a statement, they said they would return to work only when the regime gives state power back to the elected government. At the ministry of transport and communications, however, officials were compiling a list of employees who have not come to work, according to an official who asked not to be named, hinting at possible repercussions. People from many other walks of life also joined the general strike on Monday. From activists, lawyers and engineers to construction workers, nurses and medical students, they turned out in force in a show of support for the growing anti-coup movement. “If we don’t rise up against the military coup now, there’s no chance we’ll be able to fight back 10 years from now,” said one 21-year-old law student who joined student-led protests in her neighbourhood in Yangon’s Sanchaung township. A 19-year-old first-time voter who walked more than 15km from North Okkalapa to Sanchaung to join the protests said he supported the movement because he wanted his vote to count. “I can’t let the very first vote of my life be wasted,” he said. – Myanmar Now
Indonesia extends border closure for foreigners by two more weeks
Indonesia on Monday extended the closure of its borders to foreigners for another two weeks until Feb. 22 over coronavirus fears, a day after its drug monitoring agency approved the emergency use of China's CoronaVac vaccine for the elderly. "Principally, all foreigners are still barred from entering Indonesia," Wiku Adisasmito, spokesman for the national COVID-19 task force told a press conference. Exceptions, however, will be granted for long-term residents, those from countries who have travel corridor arrangements with Indonesia and those who get special permission from Indonesian ministries or institutions, but by still applying health protocols, including a five-day quarantine. Visiting government officials from the level of minister and above traveling with official or diplomatic visas, as well as chiefs of the foreign missions in Indonesia and their families, are excluded from quarantine, according to Wiku. In December, the government barred all foreign visitors, except for ministerial-level government officials and long-term residents, from entering the country, as it tries to keep out seemingly more transmissible variants of the coronavirus. In the Monday press conference, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto also said that during the Chinese Lunar New Year and weekend holiday from Friday to Sunday, company employees, civil servants, soldiers and police will be banned from traveling out of town. Stricter restrictions on people's movements and activities on the densely populated islands of Java and Bali have been imposed since last month as the curve of confirmed cases of new coronavirus in the country has shown no signs of flattening New coronavirus patients have been crowding hospitals in the country, particularly on Java and Bali, prompting fears of a health care system collapse. Under the stricter rules, the capacity of restaurants and places of worship has been limited, while shopping malls have been subject to shorter operating hours. Indonesia has set itself the massive task of vaccinating 181.5 million people, or roughly two-thirds of its population of 270 million, within a year. On Sunday, the country's Drug and Food Agency authorized the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for the elderly after the clinical trials for the elderly in Brazil and China showed it to be sufficiently safe. Indonesia reported 8,242 new cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus Monday, pushing the tally to 1,652,958, the highest in Southeast Asia, with the death toll standing at 31,763. – The Jakarta Post