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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Vaccination-differentiated measures kick in at hotels, institutes of higher learning and indoor sports facilities
Vaccination-differentiated safe management measures kicked in at hotels, hostels and serviced apartments; institutes of higher learning (IHLs); and indoor sports facilities on Tuesday (Feb 1), further expanding the scope of settings that unvaccinated persons will not be able to enter.
Such measures are now also applicable for media conferences, work-related events as well as funerary memorial events.
This means only those who are fully vaccinated; those medically ineligible for Covid-19 vaccines; people who have recovered from the virus; as well as children aged 12 and below will be able to enter such settings.
However, agencies and ministries have further clarified previous guidelines for hotels and IHLs.
Previously, vaccination-differentiated measures at hotels were to apply to leisure guests only. Now they will apply to all guests and visitors.
In an updated advisory for hotels released on Monday (Jan 31), the Singapore Tourism Board said that while unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated individuals may enter the hotel premises, they will not be allowed to enter areas where sleeping facilities are provided, such as guest floors and guest rooms. – Straits Times
Set definite timeline to reopen borders, Muhyiddin says
The government must set a definite timeline to reopen Malaysia's international borders to get the economy back on track.
National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said such a timeline should be given soon, be it a month or two to three months, as the closed borders had created hiccups in the economic recovery efforts.
"There must be a very definite timeline with conditions set so that a timeline can be made and certain countries which we find are controlling the pandemic well should be allowed to come in.
"If we drag this matter further, there will be problems," said the former prime minister at the Gerakan's Chinese New Year Celebration, here yesterday. Muhydidin said the prime minister and his cabinet should take note of the suggestions given by the National Recovery Council (NRC) on the matter.
He was of the opinion that the government should reconsider the council's earlier suggestion of reopening the borders fully on Jan 1 after it had been pushed back indefinitely following the spike in infections involving the Omicron variant.
Muhydidin said in the last NRC meeting held in January, a special committee comprising the Health Ministry, several other ministers and the NRC was formed to chart the way on when the borders could be fully reopened.
He also said the outcomes would likely be known next month.
"I want to know if the outcome is either to continue closing the borders, which I do not agree with or opening up everything without restrictions (such as tests and quarantines)." – New Straits Times
Test & Go lures travellers
Some 2,500 passengers from 46 flights arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport on the first day of the resumption of the Test & Go scheme on Tuesday.
Kittipong Kittikachorn, the airport's general manager, said arrivals under the scheme came mostly from nearby countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Europe.
Their registrations were already approved, Mr Kittipong said.
The Customs Department has set up a special lane for passengers arriving in groups with goods to declare, in addition to a lane for general passengers, he noted.
Hotels that have received bookings under the Test & Go scheme have been asked to send vehicles to the airport at least one hour before the tourists arrive to reduce overcrowding, he added.
The airport's fast-track international passenger checkpoint was moved on Tuesday from Zone 2 to Zone 1, located behind the Row A ticket checking counters to improve service efficiency.
Following a makeover, the Zone 1 fast-track checkpoint lane will provide services for first-class and business-class departure passengers and those eligible for fast-track services.
This group includes crew members, holders of diplomatic passports, passengers requiring special assistance (wheelchairs), elderly travellers and pregnant passengers.
New renovations include the expansion of the security checkpoint area and an increase of X-ray machines from two to five. – Bangkok Post
NCRPO seizes P5.9-B illegal drugs since Nov. 2020
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has confiscated more than PHP5.9 billion worth of illegal drugs in police operations from Nov. 10, 2020, to Jan. 30, 2022.
Citing the latest data on Wednesday, NCRPO chief, Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said a total of 24,684 suspects were arrested in 13,993 anti-drug operations in the region over the same period.
These operations resulted in the seizure of about 863,911.24 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of PHP5,874,596,499.14; about 585,796.78 grams of marijuana valued at PHP70,295,614; about 15,923 grams of ecstasy pills worth PHP27,069,100; and 286.13 grams of cocaine worth PHP1,516,489.
Danao emphasized the importance of this campaign in maintaining peace and order in Metro Manila and recognized the efforts of police personnel in pursuing the government's anti-narcotics drive.
"The fight against illegal drugs is one of our focus campaigns since we have undoubtedly proven its interrelation with the peace and order of a community. Indeed, we may be far from the drug-free community that we are aiming for but with the unwavering effort of Team NCRPO, nothing is unattainable," he said. – Philippine News Agency
Major AI trends in 2022 forecast
Companies are increasingly using artificial intelligence to further their digital advantage and increase competitiveness and efficiencies and generate new revenue streams.
AI is now a global focus, with countries spending billions of dollars in research and development to be at the forefront of the new technology, and they include Viet Nam.
An IBM study found 42 per cent of CEOs in Viet Nam saying AI technology would most help them deliver the results they need over the next two or three years.
IBM also predicted the top AI trends in 2022 in Viet Nam.
The first is customer care using AI to get more personal. Virtual assistants will become a critical tool for large organisations and governments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consumers will notice more personalised and fully realised interactions with retailers and service providers as AI assumes a bigger role in customer care.
AI will play a key role in helping businesses achieve sustainability benchmarks through improved measurement, data collection, carbon accounting, prediction and supply chain resiliency. – Vietnam News
C-19 end game: MoH optimistic after milder Omicron is now the dominant strain
After over two years of causing suffering and deaths, a Covid-19 end game may be in sight with the milder Omicron variant taking over dominance from the Delta strain, which claimed more than 3,000 lives in the country. Despite Omicron and its sub-variants causing a surge in cases, no fatality has been reported in months and health authorities have attributed this to the high inoculation rate across the country, improved treatment options and effective health measures.
Ministry of Health spokesman, Hok Kim Cheng said yesterday that there are five factors which point to an end game being in sight despite the higher transmissibility of Omicron, especially its sub-variant BA.2
“First, the fatality rate has dropped to zero after more than 3,000 lives were taken by Covid-19 and its previous two variants. For more than three months, the nation hasn’t recorded any deaths due to Covid-19,” he said. “Secondly, the number of severe infections has dropped from approximately 1,500 patients to not more than 200 who are undergoing treatment in the ICU.”
“Third, the dangerous variant Delta has vanished amid the presence of Omicron and its stealth sub-variant. There are no more confirmed Delta cases and although it still exists it is no longer a cause for concern,” Kim Cheng added.
He said that fourthly, treatment options have improved and since infections are mild the patients are able to undergo home treatment.
“Last but not least, it is the high vaccination rate which is responsible for the other four factors. We are thankful to Prime Minister Hun Sen for bringing in vaccines to inoculate all nationalities in the country for free,” he added. – Khmer Times
Burned corpses found in Magway oil drilling region amid junta arson campaign
Junta soldiers have rampaged through the crude oil fields in Magway Region’s Pauk and Myaing townships in recent weeks, killing six civilians and burning hundreds of hand-dug oil wells, local resistance groups have told Myanmar Now.
The troops, split into three columns of around 120 men each, have been demanding bribes of up to 500,000 kyat ($280) from owners of the small-scale drilling operations and setting the fires if they are unable to pay, the groups said.
On January 23, Pauk locals found the burned remains of three bodies in the oil drilling village of Kyauk Taung Khin. Then on Thursday two more bodies were found between the village of Kyet Su Aint and Tha Yet Kan, at the border of the two townships.
“Three of the civilians were burned on top of a haystack,” said Khun Chaint, the southern zone branch officer of the Myaing People’s Defence Force (PDF). “Two others were burned the other day in the oil fields between Pauk and Myaing.”
Most of the five bodies were unidentifiable, but several witnesses said one of the victims from the first group that was found was a 30-year-old local man named Kyaw Lin Oo, according to an officer from a guerrilla group called the Anonymous Special Task Force.
“They shot him while he was passing by the petroleum wells on his motorcycle,” the officer told Myanmar Now. “He was burned on his motorcycle later.”
“We don’t know when exactly the bodies were burned but we found them on January 23,” he added. “Because there were a lot of people in the petroleum fields, we were unable to identify who they were.”
It is unclear how the victims died, but junta troops were accused of burning 11 people alive in Sagaing Region’s Done Taw village last month. – Myanmar NOW
Indonesia to prioritize AstraZeneca as booster vaccine in Q1 2022
The Indonesian Government would prioritize the use of AstraZeneca vaccine as booster dose in the first quarter of 2022, an official of the Health Ministry said.
"For the first quarter of 2022, booster vaccine allocation will prioritize AstraZeneca vaccine considering its ample supply," the ministry's spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination, Siti Nadia Tarmidzi, said here on Sunday.
AstraZeneca vaccine can be administered with an interval of eight weeks after the full-dose primary vaccination.
The booster vaccination could be conducted simultaneously in all districts/cities regardless the achievement of 70 percent vaccination target and 60 percent of first dose vaccination for the elderly.
Those who will receive the booster vaccine are required to show their identity card numbers or PeduliLindungi application, 18 years old or above, already have full-dose primary vaccination at least six months before the booster vaccination. People who received Sinovac as primary vaccine would get half dose of AstraZeneca (0.25 ml) or half dose of Pfizer (0.15 ml) as booster vaccine while those who received AstraZeneca as primary vaccine would get half dose of Moderna (0.25 ml), half dose of Pfizer (0.15 ml), or full dose of AstraZeneca (0.5 ml) as booster vaccine. – AntaraNews.Com