These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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GPs, polyclinics seeing rise in patients with flu-like symptoms as some let guard down
Some doctors have been seeing an increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for flu-like symptoms in the past few weeks, largely due to the flu season and a faltering resolve to comply with Covid-19 precautionary measures. According to the Ministry of Health's Weekly Infectious Disease Bulletin in 2020, polyclinics saw less than half the number of patients for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) than in the previous year. The cases were kept low because of good personal hygiene, mask wearing and social distancing, but some people are beginning to let their guard down as the pandemic drags on. A spike in ARI cases emerged last month, with a daily average of 869 cases in the first week of January, and rising to a daily average of 1,423 cases from Jan 17 to 23. ARI symptoms include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and cough. A check by The Straits Times with several general practitioners (GPs) indicated an uptick in the number of ARI cases within the past few weeks, especially among children. Dr Quah Soon Wee, a family physician at Crossroads Family Clinic, said this could be due to intermingling of pupils in schools, since the new school year opened earlier last month. Around 20 per cent to 30 per cent of his patients were children, though he noted that his clinic, which is located in a new estate in Tampines North, generally has a higher number of pre-schoolers. He reported between 50 and 60 ARI cases weekly in January, up from an average of 30 cases per week in December. "One reason for the increase in ARI cases could be due to more people going out and meeting others since phase three began (on Dec 28)," said Dr Quah. – The Straits Times
'Covid-19 screening pricey due to rampant profiteering'
Consumer groups are urging the government to set a price cap on Covid-19 screening as a move to encourage mass community testing. They claimed that allowing healthcare facilities to set their own prices for screening had resulted in rampant profiteering. A survey by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) found that the cost for Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (Rt-PCR) test started from as low as RM100 and could go up to RM580, while the cost for screening using the Rapid Test Kit-Antigen (RTK-Antigen) ranged from RM50 to RM350. Fomca president Datuk Dr Marimuthu Nadason said it was high time the government standardised the cost for Covid-19 tests, similar to how the price for face masks was capped under controlled items. "We are facing (a health) emergency, yet many irresponsible healthcare facilities are cashing in on the crisis by charging exorbitant fees for the tests. "This profiteering must stop. The cost for RTK-Ag test should be capped at RM70 maximum," he told the New Straits Times yesterday. Although the Rt-PCR test is considered more accurate, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had, on Jan 22, twittered that the RTK-Ag could be used as a confirmed test result if the healthcare system was overburdened. He said the RTK-Ag test could be used when the turnaround time for Rt-PCR test was longer than 72 hours or when the Rt-PCR test was not available. However, he said, the RTK-Ag test kit must have a sensitivity of more than 80 per cent, and the kit's specificity should exceed 97 per cent. Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye called on the government to place the RTK-Ag test kit as a price-controlled item to lower the screening cost. "This will certainly come as a relief for employers, who have to pay for their employees' screening cost, especially if the employees are not Social Security Organisation (Sosco) contributors. "Furthermore, it will encourage more people to get themselves tested, which is vital to stem community transmissions. "Otherwise, people will hesitate to undergo screening as they would rather spend the money putting food on their table." Lee also proposed that the government waive import duties for imported test kits as another alternative to reduce the screening cost. – New Straits Times
PM orders inquiry as parents demand return of school fees
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday ordered a probe into private schools refusing to return fees to students for services that weren't actually delivered because their classes were held online during the Covid-19 outbreak. Gen Prayut was responding to complaints lodged by parents and said he had ordered both the Education Ministry and the Office of the Private Education Commission (Opec) to look into the matter. "These schools should have known what fees weren't used during the online study period such as food, transport, computer and internet services, and study tours," he said. Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan chaired a meeting on Jan 27 with the commission, discussing the possibility of lowering the fees private schools were collecting since they able to organise normal classes for their students. During the recent resurgence of Covid-19, schools were ordered to close throughout January and conduct classes online instead. "The schools closed for the whole of January, so there will be certain collected fees that have not been used and those sums must be returned to parents," said the education minister. Mr Nataphol said he had already ordered schools to prepare lists of fees received during the pandemic which could be waived and returned. The schools had agreed to provide details of returnable fees within 15 days, he said. Attapon Truektrong, secretary-general of the Private Education Commission, said it had decided to send a letter to all private schools nationwide asking them to specify which expenses weren't actually incurred. These might include such items as lunches, computer services, study tours and student transport, he said. The Private Education Commission, said Mr Attapon, had classified unused fees into two categories: tuition fees and miscellaneous expenses such as transport, lunches, snacks, laundry and extra tuition classes. He said the parents were entitled to ask for a refund for the second category. "These already-collected fees should be returned to the students as classes weren't actually conducted at schools throughout January," he said. However, the minister insisted the commission would not order private schools to refund a percentage of January's tuition fees, as demanded by some parents. At the same time, he said schools should return money received for services and activities that weren't provided during the pandemic. He suggested that schools that didn't have the cash should consult with parents and consider offering refunds via school fee credits instead. – Bangkok Post
PH lost P400B income in 2020 due to slide in foreign arrivals amid pandemic
The Philippines lost around P400 billion in income in 2020 after foreign tourist arrivals plunged amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported Wednesday. During the hearing of the House committee on Northern Luzon quadrangle on the status of the tourism sector in the region, DOT OIC-Undersecretary Roberto Alabado said that the country only had 1.3 million foreign tourism arrivals last year, way lower than the 8.3 million foreign visitors recorded in 2019. “This is a very big blow for us. We actually approximately lost around P400 billion in income because of the missing foreign tourists,” Alabado said, adding that the decline in foreign tourist arrivals affected 5.7 million jobs in the country. To help revive the tourism sector, Alabado said DOT has set its sight to focusing on domestic tourism. “If we compare the income in 2019 earned from the domestic market, we are counting on a P3 trillion market. This was what we heard in 2019,” Alabado said. “So, the easiest way to revive our tourism is through the domestic market. That’s why, right now, we are promoting and at the same time developing new products, timely and efficient institutional support, and effective strategic communication,” the tourism official added. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat earlier said that with the improvement of community quarantine levels in parts of the country, efforts will be intensified to help revive tourism activities and restore job and livelihood opportunities. The tourism secretary, however, stressed that there is still a need to follow travel protocols imposed. – INQUIRER.net
Hà Nội advised to set up field hospital amid new COVID-19 outbreaks
Health Minister Nguyễn Thanh Long has requested Hà Nội authorities to consider establishing a special hospital to treat COVID-19 patients, given the rapid spread of coronavirus in the community. Coronavirus currently has a high transmission rate, as one patient can transmit the disease to 10 others or more, not just 4-5 people like before, according to the minister, who spoke at a working session with the capital city’s leaders on pandemic prevention and control on February 1. The incubation period also decreases from 4-5 days to 1-2 days after contact with the patients. Therefore, the capital city should change its methods of COVID-19 response, he stated, emphasising the need to consider all the second generation of infections (F1s) as suspected infections and trace for all F1 and F2 cases. The Health Minister urged Hà Nội to speed up COVID-19 testing, zone off areas where the infected cases are detected at a broader scale, and request all locals to wear face masks when going out. The Health Ministry is willing to provide maximum support for Hà Nội, and assign the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases to help with treatment. Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngọc Anh said that right after the working session, the committee will ask relevant units to continue strengthening efforts and increasing the testing and treatment capacity to quickly put the pandemic under control. Following directions of the municipal People’s Committee, all educational institutions officially suspended operations from February 1 to ensure disease prevention and control. Students will continue with their studies, but classes will be conducted online. Authorities in Hà Nội have ordered the temporary closure of online game and internet shops from February 2, as part of the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the city, according to Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chử Xuân Dũng. Previously, municipal authorities ordered the closure of bars and karaoke clubs to avoid large crowds, and required restaurants to have partitions. Addressing a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on February 1, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health Hoàng Đức Hạnh said this new wave of COVID-19 spread quickly and could become more complicated. Hạnh proposed to raise the prevention work by one level. He said that the COVID-19 contact tracing must be quickened, towards swiftly collecting samples and quarantining of those from pandemic-hit areas. Hà Nội has so far identified about 15,000 people relating to the outbreaks in Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh, of them 10,000 have been tested. – Viet Nam News
Fleeing home in droves: Migrant ‘trains’ walk across border in the hundreds
The first signs of a large exodus of Cambodians from Thailand’s Surin province were the five truckloads of personal effects belonging to the workers. Thai-registered trucks crossed the border at Cambodia’s O’Smach checkpoint in Oddar Meanchey province at about 8am yesterday, carrying household products from mini refrigerators, television sets to fishing rods, rice cookers and bags and bags of personal effects. The waiting army personnel, numbering 55 along with 25 army trucks, health officials and border security personnel quickly sprung into action and waited at the border gate, mere metres away from the Thai side on Thailand’s Surin province. They came on foot, individually or in groups of twos, fives and up to 30 at a time and continued streaming in steadily and swiftly for more than an hour and half. They had earlier gathered 10 kilometres away on the Thai side of the border called Kab Jerng, many of them since Monday evening and some arriving at the said point early in the morning. Khloak Huot, Director of Oddar Meanchey Provincial Health Department, said that in the past few days, the number of workers returning to Cambodia through the O’Smach border check point numbered between 150 and 200 but on Monday and yesterday the numbers were extraordinarily high. Monday saw 300 Cambodians crossing and the number increased to 324, comprising men, women, children and even monks. “About 80 percent of the returnees from Thailand are legal returnees in the sense that they have valid travel documents and even work permits. The remaining had crossed the border illegally and the O’Smach International checkpoint is the only crossing in this area. There are no rivers, streams or other crossings other than road as both sides of the border checkpoints are hilly and have landmines,” he said. “This significantly large number of returnees will likely stretch our existing quarantine facilities, numbering 17 and many of them are full or are nearing full capacity. We need to see returnees effectively quarantined and tested, released after 14 days and the centres disinfected and readied to receive future arrivals,” he added. Huot said the number of workers returning to Cambodia from December 21, 2020, to Monday via the O’Smach border checkpoint totalled 6,470 and comprised largely migrant workers. Approximately 2,427 are still in quarantine while 4,043 have left for homes after the end of their quarantine period. “We had only two COVID-19 positive cases and both have been successfully treated and discharged. Thus far the number of returnees to Cambodia has not decreased and on the contrary only increased day by day, which is worrying, as if these numbers continue to increase, the authorities will need to expand quarantine centres or add new ones,” he said. – Khmer Times
As cases swell in Indonesia, self-isolation is a luxury not everyone can afford
Imagine having to work with four other people who do not wear masks in a poorly ventilated room – or sneaking into the office of the boss who, unlike everyone else at the company, has been working from home since March 2020, just to be able to eat lunch alone, or else have it on a balcony with the external parts of air conditioners venting hot air outside. These are everyday realities for a 24-year-old woman with an office job at a small construction supplies distributor in Surabaya, East Java. And adding to this conundrum, she felt she couldn’t stay home while she had symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Nur, who has asked to be identified by her first name only, knew that if she took a day off and failed to present a doctor’s note – she was avoiding doctor’s visits over virus fears – the company might cut her pay for the day. “I'm sure my colleagues feel the same way. We're afraid of having our pay cut if we're not confirmed positive [for COVID-19],” said Nur, who is also responsible for screening everyone's temperature at the office. Quarantine and isolation are keys to cutting chains of COVID-19 transmission, but some people, like Nur, cannot afford to comply with all protocols over fears of putting their income at risk. Experts have been calling on the government to put more focus on strategies for quarantine and self-isolation, including by providing assistance to people who must undergo these measures, which they say could be distributed through the help of local communities. But the government’s COVID-19 social aid scheme primarily targets poor and vulnerable families, not the wider public in need of support during isolation. It has also been marred by data errors and distribution snags, as well as a graft scandal involving former social affairs minister Juliari Batubara. The government has generally shifted the responsibility for providing food to people in isolation to neighbourhood communities across the country, as suggested by the Health Ministry's COVID-19 protocols. And only Jakarta has passed a bylaw stipulating its responsibility to provide food for affected residents, including those who have tested positive and are undergoing self-isolation. Wisnu Iriawan, 59, a resident of Sidoarjo, East Java, who has been leading COVID-19 containment efforts in his neighbourhood said people had mostly used their own money to assist those in isolation. He said food aid from a local social agency had stopped arriving six months ago. "Where have all the trillions of rupiah of government spending on the COVID-19 response gone?" he said, adding that he believed people would be more open about their COVID-19 status if assistance was available. The country’s Labor Law mandates paid sick leave, and the Manpower Ministry issued a circular letter last year suggesting that employees suspected of having COVID-19 be paid in full while in quarantine under a doctor's order. Those who have tested positive should be paid as well, according to the law. – The Jakarta Post