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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Singapore detects first 2 imported Covid-19 cases who test preliminarily positive for Omicron
Two imported Covid-19 cases have preliminarily tested positive for the Omicron variant on Thursday (Dec 2), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.
Both cases were isolated upon arrival in Singapore on Wednesday, and had no interaction with anyone in the community.
"There is currently no evidence of any community transmission from these cases," said MOH in a statement on Thursday. - Straits Times
'Make routine virus testing in schools mandatory'
Routine Covid-19 screening should be made mandatory for all schools, including fully residential schools (SBP), to break the chain of infection.
Malaysian Muslim Teachers Association (i-Guru) president Mohd Azizee Hasan said students should be regularly tested to ensure their health and safety levels, apart from being the first indicator of infection.
He said the screening should be done for all school staff, including teachers, canteen workers and cleaners, as well as security guards to ensure their safety and provide a conducive learning environment. - New Straits Times
B1 trillion to beat Omicron
The government will inject around one trillion baht into the economy next year to cushion against any volatility that may be caused by the Omicron variant of Covid-19, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Thursday.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Bangkok Post International Forum 2021, held under the theme "Unleashing the Future: A Glimpse into 2022 and Beyond".
About 600 billion baht will be drawn from state investment funds for the 2022 fiscal year, while about 300 billion baht will be taken out of state enterprises' investment funds, he said. - Bangkok Post
NCR 'very low risk' for Covid-19: OCTA
The National Capital Region (NCR) is now classified as very low risk for the coronavirus, the OCTA Research Group said Friday.
Over Twitter, OCTA Research Group Fellow Dr. Guido David said compared were NCR's data for the week of November 26 to December 2 and last year's data for the same week.
The region's average new cases per day currently are 138 -- 278 infections lower than last year's report. - Philippine News Agency
Vietnam, China foreign ministers hold talks on trade, South China Sea, and COVID-19 vaccine cooperation
Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi on Thursday in Hu Zhou City of China’s Zhejiang Province, during which they sought measures to bolster the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic partnership in the future and discussed a number of regional and international issues of shared concern.
Both sides shared delight at the progress of the bilateral partnership this year despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with regular meetings between leaders of the two Parties and States as well as ministries, sectors and localities.
In the first 10 months of 2021, two-way trade rose 30 per cent year on year to US$133.65 billion, higher than the result recorded in the whole of 2020, they noted. - Vietnam News
Prime Minister considers lifting travel ban on African countries
Cambodia is considering to reverse the banned entry of travellers who have been or transited through 10 African countries and instead requiring PCR tests, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday.
Mr Hun Sen said: “Now South Africa itself has confirmed that there is no problem and there are countries that have made several announcements about banning flights from this region.”
“I agree with the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres Race who says that if countries ban flights from Africa, it seems to isolate those African countries to fight in the battlefield alone,” he said, adding that Cambodia has imposed bans on 10 countries in Africa. - Khmer Times
NUG hails UN decision on Myanmar representation
Myanmar’s underground government has welcomed a decision by a United Nations credentials committee to keep the country’s current representative in place, calling the move a “first step” towards international recognition.
The nine-member Credentials Committee of the General Assembly, responsible for approving the nominations of each UN member state’s ambassador to the world body, on Wednesday deferred a decision on who will represent Afghanistan and Myanmar.
The deferral means that Kyaw Moe Tun, appointed by now-deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government last year, will remain as Myanmar's permanent representative for now. The 52-year-old diplomat denounced the junta and chose to continue to represent the elected government shortly after the military takeover. - Myanmar NOW
COVID-19 task force urges people to get vaccinated promptly
The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 without delay to suppress virus mutation.
“If we are vaccinated, the virus will not be able to secure a place to breed in our bodies," clinical microbiology specialist and member of the Health Handling Division and the expert panel of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Budiman Bela, said during a talk, which was accessed online from here on Thursday.
The virus would mutate more quickly in conditions where it is given the opportunity to replicate properly, he explained. One of the causes for virus replication is a poor immune condition, he said. - AntaraNews.Com