These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Swimming, cycling, heavy weights lifting should be avoided after Covid-19 jabs: MOH
Swimming, cycling, heavy weights lifting, ball and racket games are some of the activities individuals should avoid for seven days after receiving their first and second Covid-19 jabs, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). The clarification, which appears in a MOH advisory dated July 5 (Tuesday), follows an amended recommendation on Monday (July 4) that people should avoid strenuous physical activity after receiving either of their mRNA Covid-19 vaccination doses. An earlier advisory on June 11 had recommended that those vaccinated should avoid strenuous physical activity for one week after their second dose of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. In the latest MOH advisory, competitive sports and physical education classes should also be avoided as they are considered strenuous. Physical activities that are safe to do one-week post-vaccination include casual walking, stretching, working while standing, housework. "We recommend that everyone, in particular adolescents and younger men, aged less than 30 years, avoid strenuous physical activity, such as intense exercise, for one week after the first and second doses," according to the latest MOH advisory. "During this time, if you develop any chest pain, shortness of breath or abnormal heart beats, you should seek medical attention immediately." MOH had said this review, done with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), took place independently of an incident involving a 16-year-old male. He had suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after a strenuous weight lifting session at a gym that took place six days after he received his first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Investigations are on-going into the cause, including the possibility of acute severe myocarditis. "While most persons with vaccine-related myocarditis observed locally and internationally have mild symptoms and make an uneventful recovery, it is possible that the condition may be aggravated by factors or strenuous activities that may affect the heart," MOH had said on Tuesday (July 5). The HSA safety update also showed that seven of 12 cases of myocarditis and pericarditis that occurred in individuals after they took the mRNA vaccines here were aged below 30. This is higher than expected for this age group, based on background incidence rates. – The Straits Times
Pahang MB defends Forestry Dept's operations in Raub forest reserve
The ongoing enforcement operations against illegal plantations at the Batu Talam permanent forest reserve in Raub did not violate any law or breach the Court of Appeal's orders. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the operation, which began on Saturday (July 3), was carried out after consultation with the state legal adviser's office. "The legal adviser's office was consulted on the operation and the area where the enforcement was conducted. The office had referred the matter to the Court of Appeal. "The enforcement operation has not done against court orders and the area is outside the durian farms which is supposed to be owned by the Royal Pahang Durian Resources-PKPP Sdn Bhd," he said in a statement today. Wan Rosdy said despite it being a routine enforcement operation at the permanent reserve, some quarters had hurled abusive words towards officers and personnel on duty at the site, and were against the operation. Meanwhile, he said the operation which involved the illegal farms including Musang King orchards at the permanent reserve forest will end on Aug 2. "The one-month long operation involving the State Forestry department, State Enforcement Unit and cooperation from the police will cover an area estimated about 101ha. "Individuals or farmers caught trespassing will be arrested and vehicles found within the operation site will be seized. To date, 22 people have been arrested for investigations under the National Forestry Act 1984," he said. Wan Rosdy said the ongoing operation was similar to the ones conducted by the enforcement agencies at Sungai Ichat and Lembah Bertam in Cameron Highlands (vegetable farming) and Kechau in Lipis (gold mining), and hopes it would not be turned into a racial issue. On July 3, the enforcement operation had irked durian farmers who were prevented from entering the farms to collect the fruits. The Court of Appeal had previously allowed them to enter pending a full appeal in the appellate court. Some quarters had alleged that the enforcement operations were conducted on durian farms which had cases pending in court. – New Straits Times
Delta variant to take over, warns expert
The Delta variant, first identified in India, accounts for 52% of Covid-19 patients in Bangkok with a virus expert expecting it to replace the Alpha variant, first detected in the UK, as the dominant strain in the country by the end of the month. Dr Supakit Sirilak, the chief of the Department of Medical Sciences, said on Monday that about 32% of Covid-19 cases across the country in the past week were linked to the Delta variant with most diagnosed in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. In Bangkok alone, 52% of Covid-19 cases were found to be the Delta variant and the strain has already been found in 47 provinces including in the southern region. The prevalence of the Delta variant in the country is slightly faster than predicted, according to Dr Supakit. "In Bangkok, the Delta variant is found in every district, mostly northern Bangkok. So, it can be said the Delta variant is currently spreading in the city," he said. The Delta variant was first detected in April at a construction site in Laksi district in Bangkok. Dr Supakit said the number of infections linked to the Beta variant, first detected in South Africa, rose by 50 cases in the past week. The strain is still limited to the southern province of Narathiwat even though Beta infections have been confirmed in Surat Thani (1), Nakhon Si Thammarat (3), and Krabi (1). He said two additional Beta variant infections were reported in Bangkok but they are contacts of the patients in Narathiwat. Meanwhile, virus expert Yong Poovorawan posted on his Facebook that the Delta variant will soon replace the Alpha variant as the predominant strain in Thailand. Dr Yong, director of Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, wrote that a study is needed to find out what regimens will trigger stronger immune responses as the virus mutations continue. Meanwhile, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, chief of the Department of Disease Control, said that there will be 10 million doses of vaccine administered by the government this month with senior citizens a priority. Dr Opas said that 70% of the 1.8 million senior citizens in Bangkok will get their vaccines in the next two weeks while the remaining 17.85 million elderly Thais across the country will receive their first inoculations by the end of the month. – Bangkok Post
PH ‘not at low-risk’ for future COVID-19 cases, WHO exec warns DOH
An official of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday cautioned the Department of Health (DOH) in its COVID-19 messaging, warning of implications in classifying the Philippines as “low-risk” for COVID-19. “Classifying any country as low-risk has implications. We are in a pandemic, the virus is everywhere… Are we at low-risk of future COVID cases? No, we are not at low-risk of future cases. This is a pandemic, we are dealing with a very delicate situation,” WHO representative to the Philippine Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel. “I think we need to be more cautious. It’s not costly to err on the side of caution. We need to be consistent in our messaging, the public needs to be aware that the risk remains, they need to follow the protocols, they need to follow the minimum public health standards,” he added. The DOH earlier said the country is already at low-risk classification for COVID-19 case trend after recording a negative growth rate in cases and a lower average daily attack rate. But the WHO official warned that giving the public the “wrong” message could lead to lower compliance in the minimum public health standards. “So, we have to be careful here,” added Abeyasinghe. Further, he said that the number of vaccinations in the Philippines is “nowhere near” the rate needed to rule out any “major surges” in the future even as he recognized “significant progress” in the country’s inoculation, particularly in the National Capital Region. “So, we continue to urge, from WHO’s perspective, that we use the available vaccines, rationally, meaning we use the vaccines recognizing that we have limited supply to protect the most at risk, the most vulnerable so we potentially prevent the overwhelming of the hospitals if and when surge of delta variant or another variant happens,” he added. Nevertheless, Abeyasinghe commended the country for implementing measures to prevent the Delta variant from being transmitted locally. “We commend the Philippines for the measures they have implemented in holding the variant out. So far what we have confirmed among the limited sampling for genome sequencing is that we’ve only picked up the Delta variant at points of entry or [from] returning Filipinos,” he said. “What is good is that, up to now, with the limited sampling, we have not been able to pick up evidence of Delta variant transmission in the communities. That is good because what we know about the transmissibility of the Delta variant is that it’s significantly more transmissible,” he added. As of July 5, the Philippines has recorded a total of 19 Delta variant infections, including two new cases reported on Monday. – INQUIRER.net
Viet Nam's agriculture sector gains export growth in H1
Viet Nam’s agriculture sector gained export growth of agricultural, forest and seafood products in the first six months of this year despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first half of the year, Viet Nam earned US$24.23 billion from exporting agriculture, forestry and seafood products, an increase of 28.2 per cent compared to that of the same period last year. During this period, the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted material supply chains all over the world and had negative impacts on the production, consumption and exports of farming products. However, Viet Nam’s agriculture made great efforts to achieve twin goals – ensuring COVID-19 prevention and control and maintaining growth in production and business. Of which, the export value reached $10.40 billion from major agriculture products, $4.05 billion from seafood products and $8.7 billion from forestry products, a year-on-year increase of 13.3 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 61.5 per cent, respectively. Key export farming products with growth in both export volume and value included rubber, tea, cashew, cassava and products made from cassava. Products with higher export value mainly thanks to growth in export volume included timber and wooden products, bamboo products and shrimp. China, the US, Japan and South Korea were the four major export markets for Vietnamese agricultural products. Of which, the US was the largest export market for Viet Nam's agriculture sector with a total export value of $6.7 billion, mainly from exports of timber and wooden products, a year-on-year surge of 59.8 per cent. China was the second largest market with an export value of $4.8 billion, 32 per cent higher than the same period of last year. Viet Nam’s agriculture sector saw a trade surplus of $3.14 billion in the first half of this year as the country spent about $21.09 billion importing agriculture products. The COVID-19 pandemic has been causing disruptions in consumption and exports of farming products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has actively boosted farming product exports to markets like Peru and Australia as well as studied free trade agreements (FTAs) to take advantages relating to agriculture product exports, said deputy minister of agriculture and rural development Nguyen Thanh Nam. The ministry co-operated with Vietnamese embassies and trade offices in countries to exchange market information for having forecasts and analysis in timely manner on market development during and post-COVID-19 pandemic. Viet Nam also created favourable conditions for Chinese traders to purchase lychee in Viet Nam. It also negotiated with China, Thailand and the EU to boost the exports of fruits and seafood products from Viet Nam. The ministry followed the production and consumption of farming products nationwide, especially in COVID-19-hit areas. Besides that, MARD, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and localities have also implemented measures to support farmers and enterprises in consuming agro products amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They help farmers sell farming produce to supermarket chains like Big C, AEON, Hapro and Vinmart. The farming products are available on e-commerce platforms like Alibaba, Amazon, Sendo, Voso and Shopee, Nam said. MARD expects the export revenue of agriculture, forestry and seafood products this year to reach about $45 billion, including $21.5 billion from main agriculture products, $14 billion from forestry and wooden products, $8.5 billion from seafood products and about $1 billion from other products. According to the General Statistics Office, in the first half of this year, the agriculture sector gained a GDP growth of 3.6 per cent in the first six months of this year. Meanwhile, its agriculture, forestry and fishery production value achieved an increase of 3.84 per cent. – Viet Nam News
Tropical storm hits Cambodia
The Ministry of Water Resources yesterday issued an alert over tropical storm TS IN-FA 2106 which is affecting the country from yesterday until Thursday. The people have been warned to take all the extra precautions and brace themselves this time around because the tropical storm comes together with a southwest monsoon, making the weather situation worse. The ministry said that on Saturday there was an active low-pressure system in the Western China Sea with the western part of the Philippines experiencing a tropical depression and the weather pattern is moving toward the northwest. It said that the low-pressure system increased the impact of the sixth typhoon, TS IN-FA 2106, in the South China Sea and is expected to make landfall on Hainan Island in China but weaken as it enters North Vietnam. The ministry said that the typhoon or tropical storm and the southwest monsoon will affect Cambodia with rainfall, strong winds in lowland areas, moderate to heavy rainfall and strong winds besides high waves with heavy rainfall in the coastal areas. It added that the public and fishermen should be extra vigilant to avoid any untoward incidents and tragedies. Meteorology Department director Oum Rina told Khmer Times yesterday that TS IN-FA 2106 has the identification number 2106, which means TS IN-FA has occurred six times this year. The effects of TS IN-FA 2106, he said, are good for the Cambodian agricultural sector as it will bring lots of rain and that means lots of irrigation water for farmers. “This is good news for farmers because our country has been suffering from drought without rain for about a month,” Rina added. TS IN-FA 2106 not only brings rain but also wind, lightning and big waves so people who live in the mountainous areas, highlands and coastal areas must be careful and vigilant. Rina cautioned people to be careful of strong winds as these can strike anywhere across the country and people, especially those staying in rural areas, must be more careful as it can cause untold damage to their houses and prop
erties. – Khmer Times
While criminals enjoy privileges, political prisoners suffer oppression, say released detainees
Imprisoned activists opposed to the February 1 military takeover are being treated worse than convicted criminals, according to detainees who were released last week. Myanmar’s prison population has swollen since the coup due to the regime’s efforts to crush resistance to its rule. While hundreds rounded up over the past five months were freed last Wednesday, thousands more remain behind bars. Among them are many activists, university students, and members of the National League of Democracy (NLD) charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code. While they continue to endure harsh conditions in prison, well-connected criminals are treated very differently, former detainees told Myanmar Now. Nanda Marlar, a notorious fraudster convicted of cheating dozens of people out of millions of dollars, is the most striking example of a prisoner with special privileges, they say. Unlike most others being held in Yangon’s dreaded Insein Prison, Nanda Marlar has an 8’x12’ room of her own, complete with a bed and mattress, an air-conditioner, a TV and a radio, said one ex-prisoner. As a VIP prisoner, she also enjoys real power within the prison’s walls, according to those familiar with her circumstances. “She’s not afraid of anyone. Basically, she bullies everyone else in there,” said a recently released detainee who asked not to be identified. Meanwhile, prominent prisoners who have made a name for themselves by contributing to society are deprived of even basic necessities. Than Myint Aung, an author and cofounder of the Free Funeral Service Society, one of Myanmar’s most respected charities, was arrested on the day of the coup and still languishes in Insein Prison today. According to her daughter, who spoke to the BBC on June 30, she spent more than a month in an interrogation centre at the start of her incarceration. Now in her late sixties, she has a number of health issues, including cataracts in her left eye and deafness in her right ear. Despite this, however, the authorities have yet to respond to a request to allow her to receive healthcare. Myanmar Now attempted to contact the Department of Prisons for comment on Than Myint Aung’s situation, and about prison conditions in general, but did not receive a reply. Political prisoners in other parts of the country are not treated any better. Win Mya Mya, a veteran politician who was elected to the Pyitthu Hluttaw last year as the NLD’s candidate for Sintgaing Township in Mandalay Region, is currently being held in Mandalay’s Obo Prison. While she is confined to a small cell with a few other political prisoners, no such restrictions are placed on common criminals, said one woman who was a prisoner there until last week. “We who were detained under Section 505a face brutal oppression, but convicted criminals are free to come and go [around the prison] as they please,” the woman said. “They are allowed to keep personal possessions and have better privileges than any of us. They can move around whenever they want, while we were always locked up,” she added. What really disappointed her, she said, was the fact that some of the criminals she met in prison had committed very serious offenses, such as human trafficking and drug smuggling. Their relatively lenient treatment, when even political prisoners quite advanced in age were routinely subjected to torture, made a mockery of rule of law in the country, she said. Officials at Obo Prison declined to respond to requests for comment. While a number of journalists were among those released on Wednesday, most well-known activists and political figures are still being held pending trial. Of the hundreds of detained student council members, only one – Bhone Htet Naung, an education officer with the Yangon University Student Council – was released. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the junta is still holding more than 5,000 people in custody for resisting the return to military rule. As of Monday, a total of 892 Myanmar citizens have been murdered by the junta since the military seized power, according to AAPP figures. – Myanmar NOW
Govt revises downward Q3 growth forecast to 3.7-4%
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has revised Indonesia’s third-quarter economic growth forecast downwards to a range of 3.7-4 percent following the imposition of emergency restrictions in Java and Bali. "Third-quarter (growth) will contract, but it will remain positive, possibly in a range of 3.07-4 percent," he said at an online press conference on Monday. Provinces in Java and Bali contribute 60 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP), the minister noted. Therefore, the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) will affect third-quarter economic growth, he stated. Exports will be the main driver of the country's third-quarter growth on account of high demand for crude palm oil, coal, rubber, and aluminium, Hartarto predicted. Meanwhile, Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) economist Yusuf Rendy has forecast that Indonesia’s economic growth will likely dip below 4 percent in the third quarter in the wake of the emergency restrictions in Java and Bali. "Third-quarter growth will most likely be far below second-quarter growth. We predict the economy will grow 4 percent in the second quarter. The growth will be lower in the third quarter," he said here on Monday. The emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) will no doubt restrict public activity and consumption, which will later have an impact on the national economic performance, he observed. "Public consumption constitutes the biggest component of the GDP (national gross domestic product). So, when it is restricted, it will more or less affect economic performance," he elaborated. – AntaraNews.Com