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.
Coronavirus: Britain faces leadership crisis with PM Boris Johnson in intensive care
Britain is facing a leadership crisis as it heads into the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson fighting for his health in intensive care and his government under pressure to get a grip on the outbreak.
The 55-year-old Prime Minister was taken to the hospital on Sunday (April 5) night for routine tests after struggling to shake off COVID-19, but his condition worsened on Monday afternoon.
The pound fell after the government announced he had been moved to the facility for the most seriously ill patients. – The Straits Times
MCO: Out-of-work foreigners trying to sneak out of country
Foreign workers made idle by the Movement Control Order (MCO) have been sneaking towards border areas and international entry/exit points in Malaysia in an attempt to return to their home countries.
The Royal Malaysia Police Force (PDRM) is monitoring the situation, as large movements of people and mass gatherings are not permitted during the MCO and may worsen the COVID-19 pandemic. – The New Straits Times
Three days of no new cases of COVID-19 ends with one new case reported today, bringing tally to 115
The three consecutive days of no COVID-19 positive victims was shattered today when a 27-year-old Vietnamese woman was tested positive for the deadly virus.
This new case brings the tally to 115. – Khmer Times
Lacson, local execs flag gaps in cash subsidy program
Two out of every five target beneficiaries of the government’s cash subsidy program may not get financial aid if the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) does not update its database on families that need the assistance, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Monday.
“The gap averaged at least 40 percent nationwide,’’ Lacson said. “A bottom-up approach should be adopted instead of a top-down method, subject, of course, to validation.” – Philippine Daily Inquirer
Returnees prepare for quarantine
Seventy-six passengers who arrived on Monday from Indonesia, where they attended a religious event, are expected to be sent to state quarantine facilities in their home provinces on Tuesday.
The returnees arrived on a Lion Air flight, which landed at Hat Yai airport at 4pm on Monday. After landing, the plane was towed to a special bay and the passengers underwent immigration checks and health screening procedures supervised by Songkhla's 12th Disease Control Office. – Bangkok Post