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.
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S'pore updates Covid-19 border measures, stricter pre-departure testing for countries including Australia, NZ
From Thursday (Sept 9), all travellers into Singapore from Category II, III and IV countries will need to produce a negative pre-departure Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction test result taken within 48 hours before leaving for Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement on Sunday.
Previously, the requirement had been for the test to be taken within 72 hours before travel, and applied to those coming from Category III and IV countries.
The new requirement takes effect at 11.59pm on Thursday, along with other changes to border measures for travellers from a number of countries and regions.
Singapore's differentiated border measures for different countries were introduced on Aug 19.
According to MOH, Category I comprises places with the lowest risk of Covid-19 transmission, Category II countries are those with similar Covid-19 risk profiles to
Singapore, Category III are deemed to be at higher risk of Covid-19 infections, and Category IV are the remaining places with the highest risk of Covid-19 infection.
MOH has placed several countries in new categories.
South Korea, previously in Category III, has been added to Category II. Other countries in Category II include Australia, New Zealand and Germany. - Straits Times
Can Mu variant evade vaccines?
Health officials need to keep a close eye on the new Covid-19 variant, dubbed "Mu", as it has the potential to be more transmissible, more virulent and possibly able to evade vaccines.
Epidemiologist Professor Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud of Universiti Malaya said although a variant may not be a Variant of High Consequence, it can still wreak havoc by being more transmissible or more virulent, either of which can cause it to be categorised as a Variant of Concern (VOC).
"If it is more transmissible (but not more virulent), it can spread so quickly that it overwhelms the health services, resulting in sub-optimal services and hence, increased morbidity and mortality.
"If it is more virulent, it can cause a higher degree of morbidity among those infected, which in itself can cause more deaths or a longer-lasting illness. - New Straits Times
Jab proof for dine-in on Oct 1
Starting Oct 1, only those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or have a negative antigen test result will be allowed to dine-in at restaurants and seek out services deemed a high risk for virus transmission in "dark red" provinces, where maximum Covid-19 restrictions apply.
According to the Health Department's director-general, Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, the move is part of the government's push to allow businesses to reopen while the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase.
Customers will be required to fill in a form detailing their infection risk through the government's "Thai Save Thai" app before entering premises which are considered high-risk venues, which include restaurants, barber shops and hair salons, beauty clinics and spas.
In addition, they will be asked to show their vaccination certificate -- or a negative Covid-19 antigen test result, taken no longer than a week prior -- before entering the premises. Former patients must show records which showed that they have recovered.
Also, business operators must strictly comply with existing provincial regulations, Mr Suwannachai said. - Bangkok Post
Davao Region tallies 56.7K Covid-19 recoveries
Davao Region has recorded 56,704 recoveries or 77 percent of coronavirus cases since March last year.
The Department of Health-Region 11 situation update released Sunday night showed that Davao City has the most number of recovered patients at 32,025, followed by Davao del Norte (10,802); Davao Oriental (4,398); Davao de Oro (4,194); Davao del Sur (4,174); and Davao Occidental (1,111).
Of the 4,658 persons tested, at least 1,123 turned out positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of active cases to 14,651 or 19.9 percent of the total cases since last year.
This is the highest single-day tally of Covid-19 cases in the Davao Region.
Of the new cases, 586 are from this city, Davao del Norte (154); Davao del Sur (140); Davao Oriental (121); Davao de Oro (43); and Davao Occidental (79).
All cases reported are local transmission. - Philippine News Agency
Pro-competitive policies in logistics sector can help Vietnam recover from the pandemic
Pro-competitive policies can help Vietnam continue its progress in logistics sector and help the country recover quickly from the impacts of the pandemic, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development said in its two latest reports.
‘Competition Assessment Reviews: Logistics Sector in Vietnam’ assesses the impacts of regulations on competition in the sector, covering the five main subsectors of the logistics market: freight transportation, including transport by road, inland waterways and maritime; freight forwarding; warehousing; small-package delivery services; and value-added services.
The second report, 'Competitive Neutrality Reviews: Small-Package Delivery Services in Vietnam’, identifies regulatory obstacles in the small-package delivery sector to which changes could be made to foster competition by levelling the playing field between public and private operators. This is especially important for Vietnam, where the e-commerce sector is expected to grow at a double-digit rate for the next couple of years.
The country is emerging as a key logistics hub in the region, with the transportation and storage sector now accounting for around 2.7 per cent of GDP and 3.5 per cent of workers. - Vietnam News
Delta variant cases in Cambodia jump to 2,647
The total number of Delta variant cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Cambodia has risen to 2,647 after 251 new infections were confirmed.
According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), most of the cases were detected in Phnom Penh while the rest were found in 22 provinces.
Only two provinces, Kep and Kratie have managed to be rid of the Delta Variant since the first case broke out on March 31 2021.
Health Minister Mam Bunheng reiterated his call on the public to increase vigilance as the Delta variant is more transmissible than other previously circulating strains.
“We have to adapt to the new normal in order to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19, especially its variants,” he said in the statement. - Khmer Times
Karenni youths form a new, and eager, fighting force
“We’re happy when we’re at war, but it’s not because we enjoy killing people,” said Hsaw Reh, a young Karenni man who has joined the armed resistance against Myanmar’s military regime.
As a member of the Karenni Generation Z Army (KGZA), 22-year-old Hsaw Reh (not his real name) is part of a new movement that has emerged since the February 1 coup.
The KGZA, which operates as a unit of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), consists mostly of younger people who had never even considered engaging in armed conflict before this year, despite growing up under military rule.
Before the army seized power, Hsaw Reh was happily pursuing a career as a teacher. He was studying at a college of education and working as a tutor when the tanks rolled into the capital Naypyitaw, crushing his generation’s hopes of a more democratic future.
As much as that event changed everything for him and others who came of age during Myanmar’s decade-long era of relative freedom, his goal remains the same: to ensure that today’s children have better lives than those who came before them. - Myanmar NOW
Preparing native Papuans for becoming agents of change
The Papua administration is well aware of a significant role of highly-skilled and well-educated human capital in accelerating regional development programs in the province.
However, the quality of human resources in Papua remains left behind from many other Indonesian provinces apart from the flow of the central government's significant amounts of funds into it.
The scoring of human resources of Papua and its neighbor, West Papua, remained below the national average of 71.94 on Indonesia's 2020 Human Development Index.
According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Papua and West Papua scored 60.44 and 65.09, respectively, on the 2020 Human Development Index. Their scores remained lower than Aceh province, which got 71.94 points.
In improving the quality of the province's human capital, the Papua administration provides scholarship schemes for native Papuan students to save them from dropouts, and to enable them to have a greater access to quality education. - AntaraNews.Com