These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Onsite Covid-19 facility will test 1,700 passengers on first cruise from Marina Bay
To facilitate the resumption of cruises beginning Friday (Nov 6), a Covid-19 testing facility has been set up at Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore. The testing facility is located on the third storey of the cruise centre's carpark, and is designed to clear 125 passengers every 30 minutes. A spokesman for the centre said the facility took just over two weeks to complete, including infrastructure design, construction, flow planning, and testing and execution operations. Close to 1,700 guests who have joined Genting Cruise Lines' first voyage on Friday will undergo an antigen rapid test at the cruise centre before boarding the World Dream vessel. Test results will be available within an hour. Mr Michael Goh, president of Dream Cruises and head of international sales at Genting Cruise Lines said any guest that fails health screening or the Covid-19 tests will be prohibited from checking in and continuing with the cruise. Instead, the guest will be required to proceed to a further examination and testing at designated medical centres stipulated by the Ministry of Health. Testing for those boarding World Dream on Friday will begin at 9am, with passengers embarking from 2pm, giving them "ample time to enjoy the ship", said Mr Goh. All embarking guests will be given a designated time slot to take their Covid-19 test, to ensure that all will be tested before the ship sets sail at 9pm. Friday's cruise is the first in a "safe cruise" pilot scheme announced by the Singapore Tourism Board on Oct 8 to ensure the safe and gradual resumption of cruises amid the Covid-19 pandemic. A second cruise line, Royal Caribbean International, will join the scheme starting Dec 1. – The Straits Times
RM10 billion needed to ride out Covid-19
Malaysia needs RM10 billion to safely ride out the Covid-19 pandemic next year. Dr Maznah Dahlui, a lead researcher in the Covid-19 Epidemiological Analysis and Strategies Taskforce (CEASE) under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, said the sum was projected to cover treatment, contact tracing, surveillance and testing, on top of the cost for delivering and administering vaccines when they were available. "This sum, however, hinges on the prospect of the availability of a viable vaccine, a swift tapering of the current wave that is projected to stretch to March, as well as having fewer and shorter outbreaks. "Currently, the ministry has spent an estimated RM2 billion on Covid-19. The authorities are also likely to be dipping into other funds where money, labour and resources meant for other health issues and diseases are diverted for Covid-19 as the emergency reserves deplete," she told the New Straits Times. Sharing the preliminary findings based on the raw data that the research group had extracted from the ministry, Dr Maznah said her team calculated that the ministry had spent RM820 million in treatment charges for the 35,425 Covid-19 patients up to Wednesday. "The estimates are based on per-episode treatment in intensive care wards for a week at cost of the RM4,000 per day and treatments in regular wards for an assumed period of 14 days." "We drew on global statistics on the distribution of the severity of cases, which show that one per cent of patients require intensive care and ventilators, five per cent have moderate to severe symptoms and the other 94 per cent are asymptomatic, to arrive at the figures." She said the figure did not include spending for drugs used in the treatment, estimated to be around RM76 million. – New Straits Times
Prayut seeks 'Mr Right' to take over top job
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday said he would be happy to have a better person replace him as premier of Thailand and claimed he is tired of using his authority. "If in the future, there is a person who is better, more capable and more honest than me, similarly honest, [he or she] would continue the work and be in charge of the country," he said. "But being in power is not a fun matter. I exercised a lot of power when I was the army chief for four years. I am fed up with using power. I used the power to take care of good people and punish people who do bad things. Only two [kinds of exercising power] are difficult enough already." He made his remarks as a keynote speaker at a course-opening event at the Thailand National Defence College. He said he had never expected to be prime minister and was surprised he had been in the post for six years. "Many people accused me of using the power illegally, I don't know where I have broken the laws. I comply with all the laws," he said. He asked for the people to help promote national unity and said the 20-year national strategy does not mean he intends to stay in power for 20 years. "I might die today or tomorrow, nobody knows," he said. Meanwhile, anti-government protesters will hold a major rally on Sunday at Democracy Monument with a plan to march to an undisclosed location. The United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) announced on its Facebook page they will start their rally that day at 4pm. The UFTD urged protesters to turn out to reiterate their three core demands: Gen Prayut's resignation, a charter rewrite and monarchy reform. – Bangkok Post
Govt seeks support from Islamic organizations on COVID-19 vaccine halal status
The government has cooperated with various Islamic organizations to support the future nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program, which it seeks to begin in November or December, amid uncertainty over the vaccine's halal status. A leading expert at the Executive Office of the President (KSP), Rumadi Ahmad, has urged Muslims not to get easily provoked by anti-vaccine movements claiming that the vaccine currently being developed is non-halal. "Don't be easily provoked by such claims before related bodies have made official statements [on the vaccine's halal status]. The government has cooperated with various [Islamic] organizations to ensure there is enough information on COVID-19 vaccines," Rumadi said in a statement on Thursday. Rumadi said the vaccination program was in line with Islamic teachings so it should be supported. "Vaccination is an effort to prevent or even cure a disease. [...] Prophet Muhammad said every ailment has its remedy, but we need to actively search for the cure, it would not come to us by itself," he said. Rumadi, who is also the head of Nahdlatul Ulama's Institute for Research and Human Resources Development (Lakpesdam), said he was sure that ulemas would still support the vaccination program even if the vaccine halal status was still uncertain. He said in an emergency or life-threatening situation, when no other halal cure was available, Islamic teaching allowed the use of non-halal substances. "Islam values and protects lives. So, I am sure Indonesian ulemas would understand that and would give directions that could make [the lives of Muslims in the country] easy, not difficult," he said. Previously, Vice President and senior Muslim cleric Ma’ruf Amin, who is the chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), had said the COVID-19 vaccine currently being prepared by the government did not have to be halal. Vice presidential spokesperson Masduki Baidowi said Maruf’s statement came during a meeting with Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan about the progress of the vaccine currently being developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac in partnership with state-owned pharmaceutical firm PT Bio Farma. – The Jakarta Post
No date set yet for WHO’s COVID-19 vaccine solidarity trials in PH — DOST
There is no exact date yet as to when the World Health Organization’s solidarity trial of potential coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines will begin here in the Philippines, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said Friday. In an online briefing, de la Peña reiterated that the trials are set to begin in the Americas in November while it will begin in December for other areas such as the Philippines. However, it remains uncertain as to when exactly in December the trials will begin here. “Hindi ko alam kung gaano kalaki ang magiging trials doon sa Americas at dito sa atin sa Pilipinas. Maaaring maiksi lang sigurong diperesya ‘yan pero definitely, wala pa silang ina-announce kung aling mga vaccines ang makakasama at kung anong protocols ang susundin,” de la Peña said. (I do not know yet how huge the trials will be in the Americas and here in the Philippines. Maybe the time difference will be short but definitely it has yet to be announced which vaccines will be included and what protocols will be followed.) “At wala pa ring eksaktong date sa Disyembre makakaumpisa dito,” the DOST secretary added. (There is no exact date on December yet as to when it will begin here.) The Department of Health (DOH) earlier announced that it will heed the call of the WHO to increase its target number of participants for the local run of the COVID-19 vaccine trials to 4,000. According to WHO protocols, trial volunteers should be between the ages of 18 and 60 years old but those with co-morbidities and pregnant women will be excluded. As of November 5, there are 389,725 COVID-19 cases in the country. Of this number, 349,543 have recovered while the death toll is at 7,409. – INQUIRER.net
PM Phúc confident of successful 37th ASEAN Summit
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Thursday expressed his belief that the 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings would be a success thanks to the close co-ordination of ministries and agencies. The Government leader told a meeting in Hà Nội that preparations for the most important events during Việt Nam’s chairmanship of the Southeast Asian bloc, to be held online from November 12-15, have been completed. According to the PM, there will be 20 major meetings and a record number of 80 documents expected to be approved. Important statements and resolutions must be issued at the 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings, he said, asking ministries and heads of ASEAN SOM to prepare ahead of the event in the spirit of consensus. He said the ministries need to review and complete plans and documents, and urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare scenarios scientifically. The information work should be stepped up to improve Việt Nam’s position, he said, suggesting selecting major streets for decoration in anticipation of the summit. For the ASEAN Business Summit, PM Phúc stressed the need to call for co-operation between enterprises and make thorough preparations and detailed discussions. He suggested inviting major partners like the EU, and including issues regarding free trade agreements (FTAs) on the agenda. This would be an opportunity for Việt Nam to lure more investors and firms, especially in the context of the country successfully containing the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. The preparation for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement is of special significance, he said, requesting the ministries to pay due attention to speeches to be delivered at the event. – Viet Nam News
C-19 alert after Hungarian FM’s events: Attendees told to test and quarantine
The Ministry of Health has appealed to those who have been in direct or indirect contact with the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who tested positive for COVID-19 after his visit to Cambodia, to take a test at Chak Angre Krom Health Centre. The announcement was made by the ministry to avoid concern over an outbreak and it stated that a total of 628 people, who believed they came into direct or indirect contact, tested for the virus and none were positive. Health Ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine told Khmer Times yesterday that after the ministry received information of Szijjártó’s COVID-19 test result, the ministry immediately conducted a track and trace to find those who had been in contact with him during his visit to Cambodia on Tuesday. Everyone who has been tracked so far has since submitted a sample for testing to the Pasteur Institute. “As of last night [Wednesday], a total of 628 people who came in to contact had been tested by the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, which all came back negative of COVID-19. However, they must continue to isolate for another 14 days before being tested again,” she said. Vandine said the ministry is still investigating and appealed to those who think they have been in direct or indirect contact to take a test. “Anyone who has been indirectly affected or think they have been in contact with these 628 people, please seek a medical test for COVID-19 at Chak Angre Krom Health Centre to avoid suspicion and anxiety. They must also monitor their health for 14 days,” she added. Vandine once again warned all citizens to continue to adhere to the protective measures, by wearing masks where possible, or by covering their mouth with a handkerchief or scarf when coughing or sneezing to avoid virus transmission. – Khmer Times