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.
US reclassifies Covid-19 travel advisory for Singapore to 'unknown'
The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday (Jan 4) reclassified its Covid-19 travel advisory for Singapore, guiding Americans to avoid travel to the South-east Asian nation because the level of the disease there is "unknown".
"Because the current situation in Singapore is unknown, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants," the CDC said in its advisory.
On its website, the CDC said it uses Covid-19 data reported by the World Health Organisation and other official sources to make determinations about Travel Health Notice (THN) levels. - Straits Times
Floods: number of evacuees in Johor, Pahang rise tonight
The number of flood evacuees at relief centres rose in Johor and Pahang tonight compared to this evening and declined in Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Sabah, while the number of evacuees in Selangor and Terengganu remained the same.
In Johor, state Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said there were 5,923 evacuees from 1,585 families at 81 relief centres in seven districts, compared to 5,888 people this evening.
"Segamat still holds the highest number of evacuees, with 4,311 people, Tangkak (601), Mersing (540), Kota Tinggi (131), Kluang (120), Muar (118) and Batu Pahat (102). - New Straits Times
Anutin wants to delay nightclub reopening
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is pushing to delay the reopening of night entertainment venues after numerous businesses were found to have failed to implement the appropriate disease control measures which resulted in major outbreaks in many provinces.
Mr Anutin said it was clear that the emergence of many Covid clusters was linked to gatherings at bars and restaurants where alcoholic beverages were served.
He said their repeated failure to implement disease control measures outlined by public health authorities has forced the government to reconsider its plan to reopen certain entertainment venues, such as nightclubs. - Bangkok Post
More cops in public places as PH 'high-risk' again for Covid-19
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos, on Tuesday night directed police units to intensify the deployment of personnel to public places after the country was again classified as "high-risk" for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“DOH (Department of Health) is sending a red flag to law enforcers to recalibrate their strategy. It is laid upon us to manage the movement of people, grounded on the national IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) direction and local Executive Orders,” Carlos said in a statement.
Starting Wednesday, the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal are under the stricter Alert Level 3 until January 15. - Philippine News Agency
Frontline youngsters preventing COVID-19 in HCM City
In the hardest times during pandemic in HCM City, the HCMC Youth Union and its local chapters promoted “Young COVID strike forces,” with many practical activities gathering a large number of young people to support the city in controlling the outbreak.
From the first days of the outbreak, Hoc Mon District Youth Union quickly deployed volunteer teams of more than 10,000 young people. Most notable was the quick response team with the delivery of COVID drugs, oxygen tanks and necessary goods to people in lockdown areas.
Hoc Mon District Youth Union also promotes the campaign "Raising awareness door-to-door," by organising information vans informing people of pandemic prevention methods, implementing the 5K principle, and being vigilant against the pandemic. - Vietnam News
Home hospitalisation not allowed for Omicron patients as new variant cases rise to 94
Prime Minister Hun Sen said today that anyone who was found positive for SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529 or Omicron will not be allowed to be treated at home, as he announced more new Omicron cases for Cambodia.
Speaking at the government’s award ceremony for Cambodian national petanque athlete Ms. Ouk Sreymom, a gold medalist of the World Petanque Championships 2021, at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the PM pointed out that there are now 94 confirmed cases of Omicron in Cambodia and they are all imported.
“Anyone detected with Omicron must be treated at the hospital without exception,” he underlined. - Khmer Times
Laos Received 13.6 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccines in 2021
The vaccines were part of donations from friendly countries including China, Cambodia, the United States, Russia, Australia, France, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and others.
Covid-19 vaccines provided to Laos in 2021 included 6,902,800 doses of Sinopharm, 4,176,870 doses of AstraZeneca, 1,771,200 doses of Johnson & Johnson, 700,000 doses of Sinovac, 100,620 doses of Pfizer, 30,000 doses of Sputnik light, and 1,000 doses of Sputnik V.
According to a statement by the National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control on Monday, some 4,589,829 people in Laos have now received a first dose vaccine, making up 62.55% of the population. Meanwhile, 3,640,207 people have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, making up 49.61% of the population. – The Laotian Times
Full vaccination coverage reaches 114.5 million
The number of Indonesians who have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has reached 114.5 million, according to data released by the COVID-19 Task Force on Tuesday.
The number of residents who have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday stood at 114,565,936, an increase of 369,597 from the previous day, it said.
Recipients of both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine account for around 55 percent of the targeted population of 208,265,720, it added. - AntaraNews.Com