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.
Singapore battling third wave of imported Covid-19 cases
Singapore is now seeing a third wave of imported Covid-19 cases, with more than 100 such cases confirmed in the past month. These make up about 15.5 per cent of the total number of imported cases here since the start of the outbreak in January. As of Tuesday, a total of 688 imported cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed in Singapore. The number of daily imported cases had earlier dropped to zero as travel restrictions tightened here and around the world. But on June 15, the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 here announced that more long-term pass holders would be able to return to Singapore during phase two of the country's reopening, which began on June 19. On June 30, the Republic saw its first imported case in more than two weeks. Another 106 cases followed up until Tuesday, and they were imported from nine different countries, with more than half - 62 cases - coming from India. – The Straits Times
'Only Malaysia offered loan moratorium'
Malaysia is the only country to have introduced a six-month loan moratorium for borrowers automatically, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. The moratorium in place since April was for the benefit of individuals and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the Movement Control Order to fight the spread of Covid-19, he said following a three-month moratorium extension to certain groups announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday. Tengku Zafrul was hopeful that the extension would be a relief for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. "Aside from the RM100 billion of moratorium by banks, the government has also introduced various measures to help individuals and businesses, such as Bantuan Prihatin Nasional, which has to date amounted to RM11.16 billion and benefited 10.42 million Malaysians through wage subsidy and worker retention programmes totalling RM17 billion," he added. – New Straits Times
PM warns students over rally
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has voiced concerns over a planned gathering on Thursday by a vocational students' group in Bangkok which could provoke a confrontation with the anti-government movement. Emerging from a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Gen Prayut said he was worried the group's gathering at the Democracy Monument this afternoon would intensify the political situation to the point where protests get out of hand. The pro-government group gathers under the Archeewa Chuay Chart (Vocational Students Helping the Nation) banner which communicates to its members mainly through its Facebook page. Gen Prayut, who is also defence minister, said he had persuaded the group not to escalate the meeting into a protest gathering, though the group said on Wednesday it would still read out a statement to protect the monarchy at the Democracy Monument at 4pm. – Bangkok Post
COVID-19 task force calls for workplaces to implement WFH as office clusters spike
The COVID-19 task force has called on workplaces to implement work-from-home (WFH) policies, following reports of increasing numbers of coronavirus clusters in offices. An epidemiologist in the COVID-19 task force’s team of experts, Dewi Nur Aisyah, said workplaces should implement a full or partial WFH policy to prevent further infections among workers. “If we look at the current condition, all workplaces that are able to apply a WFH policy should start doing so,” Dewi said during a webinar on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com. “Even if workers must come in for work, the capacity must be limited to only 50 percent, so it is easy to maintain distance,” she continued. Another strategy work places could implement, Dewi said, was to divide workers into different work shifts to prevent crowding during office hours. – The Jakarta Post
Gov’t mulls aid for persons on 14-day COVID-19 quarantine
The government is looking to extend assistance to individuals required to undergo 14-day quarantine amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government is considering a last-minute amendment in the proposed “We Recover as One Law” or the Bayanihan 2 to insert the aid package for those required to be under quarantine. “There is a proposal that everyone who will be on 14-day quarantine will receive government assistance. We will bring this up before Congress which is still deliberating on the Bayanihan 2 bill,” Roque said in a press briefing at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. It was not immediately made clear, however, what kind of assistance the government intends to provide or how much budget will be set aside for the proposal. “Although the Senate has already completed its deliberations, the proposal can still be tackled by the Lower House and we have already informed Speaker Cayetano,” he added. – INQUIRER.net
Medical centres nationwide help Da Nang improve COVID-19 testing capacity
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Wednesday urged improving testing capacity to conduct COVID-19 tests on individuals who are in close contact with patients and those at hotspots. According to Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Da Nang City, which has recorded 27 infection cases over the past few days, is able to conduct tests on 1,000 to 2,000 samples per day. With the assistance of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the city targets 5,000 to 7,000 tests a day. At a Government meeting on COVID-19 on Wednesday, Long said the ministry has mobilised all resources to contain the pandemic in the city. “The containment of the virus in Da Nang is key to the control of infection in the community. The city is in a race against time to take measures,” he said. The Ministry of Health has sent a team from Ha Noi’s Bach Mai Hospital to help Da Nang Hospital and establish a testing lab at the Da Nang Lung Hospital. The HCM City’s Pasteur Institute has assisted the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Da Nang to set up a testing lab at Hospital 199 of the Ministry of Public Security. – Viet Nam News
Report shows persistent restriction of fundamental freedoms
A report released this week analysing the state of fundamental freedoms in Cambodia showed the ongoing restriction of the freedom of association and freedom of expression between April 2019 and March 2020, noting a continued crackdown on political dissent and the silencing of free speech. The fourth annual report, conducted from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 by the Fundamental Freedoms Monitoring Project (FFMP) and released on July 29, was compiled by analysing media articles and incident reports, and carrying out polls and surveys of civil society groups, trade unions, and the public. FFMP is a joint initiative by local civil society groups the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Adhoc, and the Solidarity Center, in cooperation with the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law. – The Cambodia Daily