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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27,000 children have had Covid-19 since Omicron wave started: MOH
Around 27,000 children aged five to 11 have contracted Covid-19 since December last year, when the first locally transmitted Omicron case was reported in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
But there is a silver lining: The majority are well enough to be discharged within three days.
Although MOH did not give a breakdown of numbers, it is believed that the majority of these infections were caused by the Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain of the virus here.
Both public hospitals here capable of providing specialised care for children said Covid-19 admissions have surged in recent weeks as a result.
At KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), the number of young patients admitted for Covid-19 has doubled since the Omicron variant hit, said Dr Kam Kai-Qian, a specialist in paediatric infectious diseases.
A similar trend has been seen at National University Hospital, said Dr Olivia Leow, an associate consultant from its Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children's Medical Institute, although she did not give specific numbers.
Both hospitals said most children who are hospitalised for Covid-19 are not vaccinated, often because they are too young to get the jab.
Despite MOH calling on parents to stay away from emergency departments unless their children need urgent care, these facilities remain very busy, both doctors said.
Dr Leow added: "Understandably, there is a lot of anxiety around Covid-19. But I think it's comparable to when your child had a cough, cold or runny nose before the pandemic - you don't bring him or her to the emergency department at the first sign of a sniffle or fever."
In its daily Covid-19 update on Sunday, MOH said 57 children under 12 were currently hospitalised with Covid-19. One required oxygen but none were in intensive care. – Straits Times
Floods: Over 7k evacuated in Terengganu
Flood evacuees in Terengganu increased to 7,488 people from 2,215 families as the wet weather is not showing signs of letting up.
As at 10pm, these flood victims were evacuated to 127 relief centres.
Kemaman recorded the highest number of flood evacuees affecting 2,041 people from 559 families who have sought shelter at 19 relief centres.
In Setiu, rescuers evacuated 1,162 people from 361 families to 28 flood relief centres and in Dungun, 1,119 people from 331 families are at 17 centres. In Besut, 1,105 people from 236 families have been evacuated to 42 relief centres and in Hulu Terengganu, 1,811 people from 654 families were moved to 24 relief centres.
Five people from one family are still staying at a temporary shelter.
In Kuala Terengganu, floods have affected 40 people from nine families who are now at one relief centre. In Kuala Nerus, 205 people from 64 families have been evacuated to five relief centres.
The State Disaster Management Committee secretariat said continuous heavy rain across the state may force more people in low-lying areas to be evacuated from their homes later tonight. – New Straits Times
Thais evacuated from Ukraine
Forty-seven Thais arrived at the help centre in the Ukrainian city of Lviv with more on their way on Sunday, according to the Thai embassy in Warsaw, the capital of neighbouring Poland.
On its Facebook page, the embassy, which is making arrangements to evacuate Thais from a Ukraine currently under attack from Russian military forces, said 47 reached Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine on Sunday.
A help centre has been set up in the city from which a chartered bus will transport the Thais to Warsaw.
The embassy said 43 more Thais have arrived in Lviv on Sunday.
Thais at cities in other parts of the Ukraine have confirmed they are safe, the embassy reported.
However, there are still around 100 Thais who remain confined to their homes or accommodation due to security lockdowns in a number of other cities, including Mykolayiv and Kharkiv, the embassy posted.
In the capital, Kyiv, 102 of 148 of the Thais living there left already, with 43 having arrived at the centre in Lviv.
About 40 Thais, mostly women married to Ukrainians, are choosing to remain in Kyiv with their families, although their husbands were being enlisted to fight in the war.
The Thai embassy in Warsaw said it has devised two evacuation routes for Thais.
The first, which began operating on Sunday, took 41 Thais to the city of Odessa in the south of the country, the embassy said.
They were then escorted across the border into neighbouring Romania.
From there, the group was bussed to Bucharest so they could catch commercial flights bound for Thailand tomorrow and Wednesday. – Bangkok Post
PH must be ready for another pandemic: Lacson
The country must be prepared to face another pandemic and policy directions must be crafted for this scenario, Partido Reporma standard bearer Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said Sunday night.
"Dapat may policies na tayong nila-lay out, Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is here to stay, whether it's pandemic or endemic. So kailangan mayroon na tayong policy directions and we should be ready to face the next pandemic (There should be policies being laid out now, Covid-19 is here to stay, whether it's' pandemic or endemic, so there must be policy directions and we should be ready to face the next pandemic)," he added during the "The Filipino Votes: Presidential Debate 2022" hosted by CNN Philippines.
In the same forum, Lacson, when asked who he will be tapping for his economic team should he prove victorious in the May 9 elections, said he will be appointing those who are experts in the field.
"I cannot (name) names at this time, ang kailangan talaga maalam sa economy (what is needed is that they are knowledgeable in economics)," he added.
He said there should be no trade-off between health and the economy.
Lacson added that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected the country's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and said that "comprehensive and targeted financial packages and incentives" must be provided to the sector to facilitate its recovery.
He also cited the need for a strong partnership between the government and the private sector to weather such a crisis. – Philippine News Agency
PM issues dispatch on protecting Vietnamese citizens, legal entities in Ukraine
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed official dispatch 201/CD-TTg dated February 26, 2022 on the protection of Vietnamese citizens and legal entities in Ukraine.
The dispatch, sent to ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and agencies under the Government, and Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, says since February 24, the armed conflict in Ukraine has spread in a fast and complicated manner, directly threatening the safety and assets of people and businesses, including that of around 7,000 Vietnamese living in Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Odesa and Kyiv.
In such a situation, one of the top concerns of the Party, State, Government and Prime Minister is to ensure the highest security and safety of lives, assets and legitimate interests of Vietnamese citizens and legal entities in Ukraine and related areas, the document says.
In the dispatch, the PM assigns tasks to ministries and People’s Committees. Accordingly, the Foreign Ministry is required to build plans to ensure security and safety and evacuate citizens and members of representative missions when necessary, while providing support for them in terms of accommodation, food and other necessities.
The ministry is also tasked with instructing Vietnamese representative missions in Ukraine and adjacent countries to make lists of Vietnamese citizens in conflict areas and take measures to quickly take them out of dangerous areas and take shelter in neighbouring countries when necessary. The ministry should also have plans ready to bring those people back to Viet Nam in case they want to.
The Foreign Ministry should also ask regional countries and international and humanitarian organisations to provide help to Vietnamese citizens when necessary. – Vietnam News
PCR test outrage: Tempers flare, long queues and wrong PCR test results
Frustration is boiling over into anger and violence the last few days at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh as people, including children and seniors, queue for long hours to do the polymerase chain reaction or PCR test to ascertain if they have Covid-19 and if so which variant.
While Covid-19 new infections are rising every day fuelling high test rates, the spread seems even more rapid with people throwing caution to the wind with no social distancing and some not even wearing their facemasks.
The order for PCR testing requirement after positive rapid antigen tests has now entailed far-reaching consequences and exacerbated problems with tempers flaring with many being turned away due to do limited testing a day, false-negative reports, and delay in getting the negative PCR test certificate.
Khmer Times team who went on the ground to check on the situation following numerous complaints received from members of the public had to endure a massive outpouring of outrage from people who have been queuing at the back of the hospital, along the pavement of a road on the problems they have been encountering.
Phnom Penh Health Department Director Ngy Mean Heng said that he had noticed that there are a lot of people coming to do the PCR test and promised to look into the people’s complaints and take action immediately if the allegations are proved to be true.
He said they have handed over the names of all those who are positive to the district and commune health care workers and authorities for them to follow up while he looks into how to improve the situation at the Covid-19 PCR centre.
There are three places to do the PCR tests – Khmer -Soviet Friendship Hospital, Pasteur Institute, and the Christian church in Stung Meanchey commune. – Khmer Times
Five killed as resistance fighters attack Magway police station ‘used as training camp’ for Pyu Saw Htee recruits
A coalition of three People’s Defence Force (PDF) groups on Wednesday attacked a police station in Magway Region where junta forces have reportedly been training members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia, killing five.
The coalition said the head of the Yae Pyar police station was among those killed during the raid at the village of the same name, which is in Pauk Township. Two PDF fighters were severely wounded in the 45-minute-long firefight, the groups said.
The PDF groups behind the attack were from Pauk, Myaing and Yesagyo townships. The station is located 12 miles east of Pauk’s urban centre.
Wai Gyi, the leader of the Yesagyo PDF, said there were over 20 police officers at the station during the attack. Some fled without fighting back while others returned fire, he said.
“Some of them started running the moment we started shooting,” he told Myanmar Now. “We didn’t go after the ones trying to flee. Some others started fleeing after the station chief got shot though.”
“The station chief was outside when we started shooting. We shot him dead when his car entered the gate,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Pauk PDF said the fighters refrained from burning down the police station to avoid collateral damage. – Myanmar NOW
Health posts treat 501 refugees of W Sumatra's earthquake
A total of 501 earthquake survivors in West Pasaman District, West Sumatra Province, have received health care treatment from medical workers being stationed at three health service posts in the district head's office.
The West Pasaman Health Office post had handled 180 patients while the Semen Padang medical team post treated 150 patients, and the West Sumatra Regional Police health post served 171 residents.
"We provide health screening and give proper medication to the sick displaced people," a doctor at the West Pasaman Health Office, Dian Leonita, informed here on Sunday.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the district on February 25, 2022, killing several people, and forcing many residents to take refuge. She noted that the patients who came to her medical post got fever, cough, flu, skin infections, and hypertension.
Meanwhile, Head for Medical Affairs of the West Sumatra Regional Police Eka Purnama Sari said the refugees treated at her medical post suffered from diarrhoea, cough, flu, fever, and itching.
Those from the Semen Padang medical team post recorded that their patients, aged between 30 and 50 years old, had fever, flu, and cough.
The medical staff assessed that the limited availability of drinking water as well as irregular eating patterns had caused the people to get sick.
Head of West Pasaman Communications and Informatics Office Edi Murdani informed that as of Sunday, the earthquake had claimed five lives of the residents of the district. – AntaraNews.Com