These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Seniors make up almost half of Covid-19 cases in Bukit Merah, Redhill clusters
Seniors make up almost half of the Covid-19 cases in the four clusters in Bukit Merah and Redhill, raising concerns about the risk of severe illness among older patients in the ageing estate who are not vaccinated. According to an analysis by The Straits Times, 46.9 per cent of the 98 cases linked to clusters in the area comprise patients aged 60 and above. The median age among all the cases is 51 and more than half - 55.1 per cent - are female. About two in five of the seniors in the clusters are not vaccinated, while the rest of the seniors have received at least one dose of the vaccine. In total, about 56.1 per cent of the cases in the four clusters have not been vaccinated. The Bukit Merah View area, where three Covid-19 clusters have emerged in recent weeks, has a higher proportion of elderly residents, said Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Joan Pereira, who oversees the GRC's Henderson-Dawson ward. "I am worried for our residents, especially when there are vulnerable elderly living in Bukit Merah View, and the risk
of severe disease increases with age," she told ST on Wednesday (June 23). At the same time, she noted that not all of the cases are residents in the constituency, as they also include stallholders, visitors and their household contacts. The cluster that has attracted the most concern so far is the one at 115 Bukit Merah View Market and HawkerCentre, which has swelled to 82 cases as at Wednesday night. It is now Singapore's largest open cluster, since the first case was reported on June 10. Three more clusters and unlinked cases in the vicinity have also emerged over the past week: Block 119 Bukit Merah View, with seven cases; Block 121 Bukit Merah View, with five cases; and Block 90 Redhill Close, with four cases. – The Straits Times
ProtectHealth urges more private medical facilities to participate in vaccination programme
ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd (ProtectHealth) is calling on more private medical facilities nationwide to immediately participate in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) by registering on the agency's website. Chief executive officer Dr Anas Alam Faizli said the move was to facilitate the public in getting their vaccine shots at private clinics or hospitals near their homes and to expand the country's vaccination capacity. He said the MySejahtera app would update the vaccination appointment date at a location nearest to the registered individual's home address, depending on the vaccination centre capacity and fixed appointment dates. "As such, the participation of more private facilities, whether in the urban or rural areas, will make it easier for the public to get vaccinated without having to travel far," he said in an online interview last night. Dr Anas said as of June 21, almost 700 private clinics and 100 private hospitals have registered under the NIP with the total daily vaccination
capacity of 40,000 doses. "ProtectHealth aims to increase the number of private medical practitioners to between 2,000 and 3,000 before the end of August," he said. Dr Anas said the target to increase the number of private medical facilities as vaccination centres or PPVs before the end of August was in accordance with the increased supply of Covid-19 vaccines expected to be delivered next month. The increased participation of private clinics and hospitals in the NIP before the end of August is also to meet the daily vaccination target of 400,000 doses as announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin earlier, he said. ProtectHealth is a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of the Ministry of Health (MOH) which has been given the mandate to register, provide training, monitor quality, conduct analysis and reporting as well as make payments to all private medical practitioners involved in the immunisation programme. ProtectHealth is the implementer of private medical practitioner participation in the NIP to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are widely distributed and accessible to more people. – New Straits Times
CCSA airs 7-day lockdown plan
The pros and cons of a proposal that Bangkok be locked down for seven days to contain the soaring number of Covid-19 infections have to be weighed carefully, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) says. CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said the lockdown proposal to restrict people's movement in Bangkok was discussed at the CCSA's meeting on Wednesday. However, the proposal must be considered carefully. With the lockdown, businesses would close and workers would return in large numbers to their home provinces, triggering more transmissions, Dr Taweesilp said. "The lockdown measure has its pros and cons and must be weighed," he said. "Closure of an area or factory may bring infections under control, but workers will be left jobless and head back to their home provinces and problems will arise in other areas. Putting Bangkok in a lockdown will prompt movement to the provinces and lead to more infections,'' Dr Taweesilp said. Currently, the "targeted lockdown" measure has already been adopted to deal with specific outbreak areas, including camps for construction workers. The "bubble and seal" approach where workers are not allowed to leave their dormitories and construction sites will be implemented to contain transmissions in Bangkok, he said. Unlike Samut Sakhon where the approach was first adopted, Bangkok has a larger population of residents and migrant workers, with many locations and the complexities of organisations so it will not be easy to implement the measure, Dr Taweesilp said. On Tuesday, Nithiphat Chiarakun, head of the division of respiratory disease and tuberculosis at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, posted on Facebook that Bangkok should be locked down for seven days because the number of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients was running out. He said the number of new daily cases continues to soar and may go beyond the current four-digit number. The rate of new infections detected from testing at hospitals was higher than 10%, he wrote. He added that the number of infections among children was also higher than during previous rounds of the pandemic. Though this group of patients did not suffer severe symptoms, beds had to be arranged for them at both hospitals and field hospitals, he wrote. The number of infections among elderly people and patients with underlying health problems also increased, causing shortages in hospital beds, Dr Nithiphat wrote. The number of beds for patients suffering from pneumonia and the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for Covid-19 patients are now less than 5% while the number of critically ill patients and patients on ventilators and deaths is increasing. "It seems we have been cornered without much choice,'' he wrote. "The last solution to the crisis is to lock down Bangkok for at least seven days to fix these existing problems and prevent new ones. "This time, people in Bangkok must be prevented from returning to the provinces – a mistake which was made during Songkran," Dr Nithiphat wrote. – Bangkok Post
Manila mourns passing of ex-president Noynoy Aquino, flags at half-mast
All flags in Manila will be flown at half-mast to mourn the death of former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Mayor Isko Moreno said Thursday. Moreno mourned Aquino’s death saying the late former president “inspired us with his unexpected humility.” Moreno said Aquino, who is also known as PNoy, “championed good governance reforms that promoted efficiency and reduced opportunities for corruption.” “The Philippines was cited as the fastest-growing economy in Asia during his administration,” Moreno said in a statement. “PNoy was a pragmatic man who did the best with the cards that life had dealt him. He inspired us with his unexpected humility. May his legacy continue to lead others to the right path,” he added. Aquino served as the country’s 15th president from 2010 to 2016. Aquino died at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City, said Gozo, who served as a Cabinet official during the administration of the late former President Corazon Aquino. – INQUIRER.net
Viet Nam announces contribution of $500,000 to vaccine sharing scheme COVAX
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has decided to add VND11.58 billion ($500,000) from the central budget reserve in 2021 to the Ministry of Health to make contributions to the COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) Facility. He ordered the management and use of the funding to be publicised, transparent, and in line with regulations. The principal role of the COVAX Facility is to maximise the chances of people in participating countries getting access to COVID-19 vaccines as quickly, fairly and safely as possible. By joining COVAX, self-financing countries will be guaranteed sufficient doses to protect a certain proportion of their population, depending upon how much they buy into it. Subject to funding availability, funded countries will receive enough doses to vaccinate up to 20 per cent of their population in the longer term. As one of 190 participating countries, Viet Nam is included in the list of those getting sponsored in the first phase of the mechanism. So far, UNICEF has delivered a total of 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the initiative to Viet Nam, with the first batch of 811,200 arriving on April 1, and the second shipment of 1,682,000 doses in mid-May, making up the mainstay of Viet Nam’s vaccination drive. As of June 23, more than 2.6 million vaccine doses have been administered in Viet Nam, with 137,682 receiving the full two doses. – Viet Nam News
Is the Delta Coronavirus variant taking hold among Cambodia’s new Covid-19 cases?
The Ministry of Health announced on June 4 about the presence of the Beta and Delta Coronavirus variants being detected among Cambodian migrant workers returning from Thailand. Several weeks earlier, Khmer Times had reported the presence of the variants as well as the South African variant in Cambodia but there was no official confirmation of these. Informed health officials told Khmer Times on conditions of anonymity that that the first cases of the Beta and Delta variants made their way to Cambodia by land borders, the carriers being migrant workers making their way back home due to loss of employment opportunities there. The South African variant however made its way to Cambodia by air though the specifics of this entry has never been made known to the public. The Covid Delta variant is a significantly more deadly mutation which has resurfaced in many countries. The highly contagious delta variant is the fastest and fittest coronavirus strain that will “pick off” the most vulnerable people, the World Health Organization said. Delta has the potential “to be more lethal because it’s more efficient in the way it transmits between humans,” the WHO’s Dr Mike Ryan had said. The variant, first identified in India, is the most contagious yet and, among those not yet vaccinated, may trigger serious illness in more people than other variants do, say scientists tracking the spread of infection. Thus, whoever not vaccinated should take heed of this danger and get inoculated and the Ministry of Health must make available such vaccines to those not vaccinated yet for whatever reason, including recovery from the virus, at least on an appointment in at least one medical facility in the capital. The symptoms of Covid-19 Delta variant include headache, followed by sore throat, runny nose and fever.” More “traditional” Covid symptoms such as a cough and loss of smell were much rarer now, with younger people experiencing much more of a bad cold or “funny off feeling.” For a country which took pride with less than 500 positive cases since January 2020 and zero deaths until March 2021, the current spate of spread and deaths is a cause for serious concern. – Khmer Times
Alleged military informant and ultranationalist shot dead in Yangon
An alleged informant in Yangon’s Hlaing Township was shot dead on Wednesday morning and at least six young people who posted photos of the crime scene were arrested, according to residents. Kyaw Aye, who according to locals owned a teashop used as a meeting place for members of the ultranationalist group Ma Ba Tha, was shot in the chest at close range in the township’s Ward 13. He was on his way to the teashop from his home when the attack happened, said one resident, adding that he died on the spot. “We heard the sound of gunfire,” she told Myanmar Now. “When we went outside there was no one there anymore.” Shortly after the incident, about twenty soldiers came to the ward and arrested three women and three men who had taken photos of the aftermath, she added. The military-appointed administrator in the ward, Hla Win, went into hiding late last month, leaving the neighbourhood with no administrators. Kyaw Aye was known as an informant who worked with Hla Win to get over 20 anti-coup protesters arrested, said the resident who heard the gunshot. The killing is the latest in a series of assassinations across the country targeting pro-regime officials. Local ward administrators have often become targets because of the role they play in the regime’s surveillance network. Nine administrators have been killed in Yangon alone. – Myanmar NOW
President urges public to not refuse vaccination
President Joko Widodo has urged Indonesians to get vaccinated as soon as they have the opportunity to do so and asked them not to refuse vaccination. "This is for all of our safety. Vaccination is the best available option at the moment," Widodo said from the Bogor Presidential Palace on Wednesday. He reiterated that only when everyone works in the same direction can Indonesia overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indonesian government is targeting to vaccinate one million people per day in July this year as it strives to achieve herd immunity in the country. In the meantime, Widodo has appealed to the people to strictly adhere to health protocols and not leave their homes for non-essential matters. "Everyone needs to play their role, everyone needs to contribute, without that unity, we will not be able to stem the spread of COVID-19," he said. In addition, he has asked provincial, district, and city leaders to strengthen their commitment and enforce the micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM Mikro) more strictly. Based on data from the COVID-19 Task Force, Indonesia added 13,668 infections as of June 22, 2021, bringing the total tally to 2,018,113 cases. Meanwhile, the number of recoveries increased by 8,375 to reach 1,810,136 and fatalities rose by 335 to touch 55,291. Meanwhile, the number of Indonesians who have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose increased by 524,111 to reach 23,789,884, while the number of fully vaccinated people climbed by 194,531 to 12,514,917 as of 12 p.m. on June 22, 2021. – AntaraNews.Com