These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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No rush for DIY Covid-19 test kits on first day of sales
Sales of self-administered Covid-19 test kits started at all major pharmacies in Singapore on Wednesday (June 16). All 79 Guardian pharmacy stores island wide have been stocked with two antigen rapid test (ART) kits: the Abbott PanBioTM Covid-19 Antigen Self-test and the QuickVue At-Home OTC Covid-19 Test. A Guardian spokesman said: "Both brands are approved by the Health Sciences Authority. The instructions on how to use these two brands differ, hence customers are advised to follow the specific instruction leaflet carefully for the brand they purchase." The same two test kits are also available at Watsons Singapore and Unity stores. Their retail prices range from $10 to $13 per test kit, as recommended by the Health Ministry in Singapore. The Abbott PanBio test kit costs $13 at Guardian. The same kit costs $12.80 at Unity and $13.10 at Watsons. It is cheaper to purchase the tests in boxes of 10 or more. There were few buyers for the test kits when The Straits Times checked Guardian, Watsons and Unity pharmacy outlets at Jurong East, Bukit Panjang, Potong Pasir and Toa Payoh on Wednesday morning (June 16). The self-administered testing kits are meant to make testing fast, easy and accessible as Singapore gradually resumes more activities. The self-administered tests will allow the Health Ministry to detect infected cases more quickly, in particular among asymptomatic individuals and those concerned that they might have been exposed to Covid-19. Sales across all pharmacies are currently limited to 10 ART kits per person to ensure there are adequate supplies for all. – The Straits Times
Nation's Covid-19 infectivity rate at 0.94 yesterday
The nation's infectivity rate or R-naught (Rt) has been on the rise the past four days touching 0.94 yesterday (June 15). It had gradually inched slightly higher from June 12 at 0.90; 0.91 on June 13 and 0.92 on June 14 according to data shared by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on his official Facebook page last night. It also showed that the Rt has been hovering in the range of 0.9 for 10 days since June 6. It has come down from the Rt of over 1 recorded from May 15 until June 5. Despite the lowest number of Covid-19 positive cases logged this month so far on June 14 with 4,949, the Rt stood at 0.92 and rose to 0.94 when 5,429 infections were detected yesterday. Dr Noor Hisham's data showed that four states recorded an Rt of over 1 with Labuan at the highest with 1.05 followed by Sabah with 1.04, Negri Sembilan with 1.03 and Sarawak with 1.01. The Rt in Selangor was at 0.96; 0.86 in Penang; 0.97 in Johor; 0.76 in Kelantan; 0.89 in Melaka; 0.99 in Kuala Lumpur; 0.85 in Putrajaya and Kedah; 0.82 in Pahang; 0.84 in Perak; and 0.80 in Terengganu. Rt refers to the infectivity rate of a virus and the ability for a patient who tested positive for the virus to transmit it to other people. The lower the Rt value, the lower the probability of an infected person spreading the virus to others. For example, if the Rt value is 1.5, it means a positive case would be able to infect one or two other persons. – New Straits Times
Top medic tells govt to speed up jab effort
A renowned medical expert has urged the government to speed up procuring more Covid-19 vaccines to inoculate people to build up herd immunity after learning only 6% of the Thai population has been vaccinated. Dr Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, on Tuesday told a Facebook Live audience the country needed to build up herd immunity to curb the outbreak of Covid-19 as quickly as possible. "The number of Thai vaccinees at the moment is not enough to stop the outbreak of the disease. The epidemic situation will improve within months if the government can continue to provide people with 300,000 vaccine doses per day," he said. Dr Prasit on Tuesday did not state what percentage of people have received the first dose and both the first and second doses. He said what he wanted to see was the government attempting to speed up procuring more Covid-19 vaccines for Thais. However, he said he was confident that the Siam Bioscience plant producing the AstraZeneca vaccine would double its va\ccine production shortly. Dr Prasit went on to talk about the world situation which was now improving, saying the number of new Covid-19 infections and deaths have dropped from around 600,000 to 350,000 cases and 12,000 to 7,000 cases per day respectively, largely thanks to Covid-19 vaccines. He said he had information that 2.3 billion people around the world have received doses, or 35 million doses being administered per day. But most of the vaccine recipients were in developed countries when compared with those in middle and poor countries. For example, 52% of the population in the United States have had their first shot, 61.5% in the United Kingdom, 47.6% in Germany, 46% in France, 25% in Brazil, 12% in Japan, 14.7% in India, 8.7% in Malaysia and 6% in Thailand, he said. He said the number of new infections and deaths are also declining in line with the World Health Organization's suggestion that at least 25% of vaccinations in a population can reduce the number of new infections. "The vaccine can stop infections and prevent loss generally. The number of infected patients in Thailand has already surpassed 200,000 since the outbreak happened last year," he said. "However, if we can maintain the target of 300,000 shots given per day, we can see good results in months," he added. Unfortunately, some problems have arisen due to a limited number of vaccines, he said. The problems will be resolved shortly as the government will have more Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Sinopharm. – Bangkok Post
Palace says ICC prosecutor report is ‘fantastical,’ based on ‘hearsay’
It was “fantastic” how International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda concluded that many drug war killings were cases of “nanlaban” when her report was based on mere “hearsay information,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday. “I counted and about 85 percent of sources cited by the prosecutor in the preliminary examination report came from [the] media. As a lawyer, you know that media sources are considered hearsay,” Roque said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and President Duterte's spokesperson Harry Roque. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and President Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque. “You need people with actual personal knowledge of events to prove particularly criminal liability which is proof without beyond reasonable doubt,” he added. Bensouda has sought judicial authorization to investigate the country’s violent crackdown against illegal drugs that led to thousands of killings. In her report, Bensouda said extrajudicial killings in the country “appear to have been committed pursuant to an official state policy of the Philippine government.” “Police and other government officials planned, ordered, and sometimes directly perpetrated extrajudicial killings,” she said. “I find the report of Bensouda fantastic. Without resorting to forensic examination, without resorting to primary documents, relying only on media reports, she came up with a fantastic conclusion that almost all of these killings were in fact instances… of ‘nanlaban,’” Roque said. “To me, that’s really more of fiction or perhaps, conclusions as I said early based on hearsay information,” he went on. What the ICC needs, according to Roque, is primary evidence in order for the case to prosper. “Good luck because on the basis of the preliminary examination report, they need primary evidence. And in court, whether it be international, domestic, will require primary documents and primary evidence. Not the kind of evidence relied upon by Bensouda unfortunately,” Roque said. Roque has said President Rodrigo Duterte will never cooperate with the ICC probe as it is “politically motivated.” – INQUIRER.net
Viet Nam sees high growth of fruit exports to China in first five months
Viet Nam's agricultural sector gained strong growth in the export of many kinds of fruit to China in the first five months of 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Plant Protection Department. Viet Nam exported over 468,000 tonnes of mangoes to China, 12 per cent higher than the export volume in the whole year of 2020; 348,000 tonnes of bananas, or 87 per cent of the exports in the whole year of 2020; 301,000 tonnes of jackfruit, or 92 per cent of the exports in the whole year of 2020 and 1.1 million tonnes of dragon fruit, or 63 per cent. According to Hoang Trung, Director of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, China is one of the major export markets for Vietnamese agricultural products. Viet Nam is gradually expanding export markets to the US, EU, Japan and South Korea, but this needs time to achieve the targets as expected, so in the near future, China is still the leading export market with a large proportion of Viet Nam’s farming, forestry and seafood products. However, China is no longer as easy as it was decades ago, Trung said. With the current development trend, China has more and more standards on the quality of agricultural products imported from any country, including Viet Nam. The requirements include standards for design, packaging, packing specifications, product quality and especially the growing area code. Therefore, from 2018, the Plant Protection Department has actively worked with localities, businesses and cooperatives nationwide to develop code-granted planting areas to meet China's requirements. So far, Viet Nam has granted codes for 3,400 growing areas of many kinds of fruit exported to many markets. Of which, Viet Nam has granted codes for 1,703 planting areas and 1,776 packing facilities that produce fresh fruit exported to China. In addition, Viet Nam now exports many kinds of fresh fruit to China under the official export method to take tax advantages under trade agreements, including mango, banana, dragon fruit, longan, lychee, jackfruit, pineapple, watermelon, rambutan and mangosteen. Viet Nam is negotiating with Chinese partners to reach agreements on the official export of many other kinds of farming products, including sweet potatoes and durian, or waiting for further negotiation for grapefruit, passion fruit and coconut. However, Trung said Vietnamese agricultural products are currently competing with the agricultural products from Thailand, Cambodia, and even domestic products in the Chinese market. Trung believed that this forces Viet Nam’s businesses and farmers to cooperate in improving quality, reducing production costs and increasing competitiveness of their agricultural products. – Viet Nam News
Back in full swing: All businesses allowed to resume in capital’s state markets
After having endured more than a month of uncertainty, due to closures aimed at containing the rapid spread of Covid-19, all traders at state markets in the capital can finally heave a sigh of relief. Phnom Penh City Hall late Monday night announced that all businesses are allowed to resume in state markets with immediate effect. All businesses were shuttered on April 23. On May 24 City Hall only allowed food, vegetables, fish and meat vendors to resume business in state markers. In a statement, Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng instructed all traders and vendors to strictly implement health and safety measures to prevent the virus spread, including ensuring they and their customers wear face masks and maintain social distancing. They should also spray alcohol sanitisers and conduct temperature checks on customers. Sreng also ordered the 14 district authorities and the Phnom Penh Department of Commerce to cooperate in inspecting each market to ensure the measures are properly implemented. “In the event it is found that a state market management committee or any person refuses to cooperate or does not comply with the measures, we will take administrative and legal action without exception,” he said. Government spokesman Phay Siphan told Khmer Times yesterday that authorities monitored the markets last week when they were open to sell food and there were no incidents, which gave the authorities the confidence to fully open the markets this week. In order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Siphan said the number of visitors will be limited to maintain social distancing and single-file entrance and exit points will be utilised per market. “Everyone’s temperature will be taken upon entering and guards will be on duty to monitor the situation,” Siphan said. He added that authorities were further encouraged to open the markets because almost 81 percent of adults in Phnom Penh had received vaccinations. – Khmer Times
Karenni resistance fighters agree to ceasefire as number of IDPs passes 100,000
Karenni resistance forces announced the suspension of attacks on regime troops in northern Kayah (Karenni) and southern Shan states on Tuesday amid a growing crisis facing displaced civilians in the region. The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), a coalition of anti-junta forces formed on May 31, made the decision following talks with military and religious leaders late last week. The move comes as the number of civilians displaced by the nearly month-old conflict has surpassed 100,000, according to the United Nations human rights agency OHCHR. The KNDF consists of civilians from Loikaw, Demoso, and Nan Mei Khon in Kayah State and Moebye and Pekhon in southern Shan State, as well as ethnic armed forces based in the region. The KNDF did not specify how long its ceasefire would last, but said it would continue to oppose the military junta in various ways. It also urged people to be united, prepared and cautious. On June 11, representatives of three Karenni armed groups involved in the KNDP met with army personnel from the Eastern Command and Christian religious leaders in Taunggyi, Shan State, to discuss the ongoing situation. The armed groups that attended the meeting were reportedly the Kayan New Land Party, the Karenni National People's Liberation Front, and the Karenni National Peace and Development Party. “The armed groups talked to the military council about the armed conflict. Our religious groups mainly discussed allowing humanitarian channels for displaced people,” a Catholic priest from Loikaw told Myanmar Now. The church, which has taken a leading role in efforts to mitigate harm to civilians caught in the conflict, has also been a target of attacks, with at least eight churches damaged or destroyed by the military since fighting began. Religious leaders demanded that relief workers be allowed to transport food and other supplies safely and without hindrance. “The commander said he would consider measures for the displaced people. The people are in real trouble. Living in the jungle during the rainy season is very difficult. The elderly and children are especially vulnerable,” the priest said. During the meeting, no agreement was reached to guarantee the security of displaced locals, but the situation is likely to be more stable than before, he added. “I haven’t heard any gunfire for a day or two since the meeting,” he said, noting that some civilians have also returned to their homes in recent days. “But people are still very worried. There’s a ceasefire, but they don’t know how long it will last. They’re worried that troops will come and arrest them at night if they return. They are still in so much fear.” – Myanmar NOW
Govt investigates over surfacing of Delta variant in Indonesia
Investigation is still underway by relevant authorities into the emergence of a Delta variant (B 1617.2) of COVID-19 in Kudus, Central Java, and Bangkalan, East Java, COVID-19 Task Force spokesman Prof. Wiku Adisasmito stated. "So far, investigations regarding the origin of the virus variant are still being conducted, so that we can find where it came from," Adisasmito noted in a written statement received here on Wednesday. The spokesman remarked that to map the spread of the virus, research was still being conducted by applying the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) or surveillance method, although all parts of Indonesia had yet to be covered. "Such studies require WGS or larger samples. One day, we will be able to trace where the virus came from, where it came from, and where it has spread," the professor affirmed. Adisasmito noted that new variants of a virus emerged as an attempt by the virus to survive. The mutation process will continue if the potential for transmission is available. Hence, the virus can still mutate if transmission continues in the midst of society. Adisasmito ensured that the vaccines administered to the public, so far, have high effectiveness, as their efficacy was above 50 percent to protect citizens from virus transmission. However, further research pertaining to this efficacy is still being conducted to ensure that the vaccine used is effective. "The vaccination conducted must really be able to provide collective protection or herd immunity to the people given the vaccine," Adisasmito remarked. – AntaraNews.Com