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.
Stay informed with The ASEAN Post.
S'pore rolls out measures to slow down spread of Covid-19 community cases
Singapore will expand its testing regime more aggressively to keep the Covid-19 situation under control, as the number of new infections last week doubled to more than 1,200 - up from around 600 cases the week before.
Announcing a range of measures on Monday (Sept 6) to slow the spread, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said workers in more sectors will now have to undergo mandatory fast and easy rostered routine testing, with the frequency of tests increased from every 14 days to once a week.
To ring-fence cases more quickly, the Government will also issue health risk warnings (HRW) to individuals identified as close contacts of Covid-19 cases or who have been near a patient for an extended period of time.
Individuals who receive a health risk warning will be required by law to get a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result for their first test. They will also be required to do an antigen rapid test (ART) thereafter, and a PCR test on the 14th day. - Straits Times
Huge demand for homes outside of big cities since the pandemic outbreak
There is an increase in sales in smaller townships outside of big cities because buyers prefer larger units priced between RM300,000 and RM500,000.
This is the trend seen in the first quarter of 2021 (1Q 2021), with over 30 per cent of transactions in the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang falling within that range, according to PropertyGuru Malaysia.
The firm said that among the top 10 projects with the most significant number of transactions in 1Q 2021 are areas away from city centres in self-contained townships such as Bukit Sentosa and Bandar Bukit Beruntung in Rawang, Selangor, and Bandar Putra in Kulai, Johor.
Buyers favoured landed apartments over high-rise units in 1Q 2021, showing a need for more space due to frequent lockdowns and work-from-home regulations. - New Straits Times
'Don't panic' about Mu variant, Ministry of Public Health says
Thailand currently remains free of the Mu coronavirus variant, said the Ministry of Public Health while dispelling concerns over reports it is potentially more resistant to vaccines.
Dr Supakit Sirilak, chief of the Department of Medical Sciences, told reporters at a press event on Monday that the department and its alliance had found no Mu infections in the country and that the Delta strain remains the prevalent Covid-19 variant.
He said that the Mu variant (B.1.621) only makes up less than 0.1% of the world's cases but it has been found in at least 39 countries, including in the US, the UK and Japan.
The World Health Organization (WHO) named Mu as a variant of interest last month due to it possibly being vaccine-resistant. Meanwhile, the strains of Delta, Gamma, Beta and Alpha are on the list of variants of concern, because of their high ability to spread.
Dr Supakit said there has also been no detection in Thailand of the C.1.2 variant, which is not listed by the WHO as either a variant of concern or interest due to it only making up 3% of cases in South Africa. - Bangkok Post
Cops call for retention of curfew, other measures in Cebu City
Strict protocols must be maintained despite the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) decision to downgrade this city’s status to general community quarantine (GCQ), a police official said.
Col. Josefino Ligan, Cebu City Police Office director, said the gains in the fight against the coronavirus would be sustained if the curfew, liquor ban, and inter-village checkpoints were retained beyond Tuesday, the last day of modified ECQ.
His remarks came as the IATF lowered the restrictions to GCQ in the tri-cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu, among other areas in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, which will start on Sept. 8.
However, Lapu-Lapu City, along with other places in the country, is placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions, which means that indoor dining is allowed at 20 percent seating capacity while alfresco or outdoor dining is permitted at 50 percent. - Philippine News Agency
PM asks ministries and localities to prepare post-pandemic economic recovery plans
Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chinh has asked the Government’s agencies and local administrations to work harder to control the pandemic and at the same time design scenarios for economic recovery and development in the new situation.
He chaired a regular Government meeting on Monday, focusing on socio-economic performance in August and the first eight months of this year.
PM Chinh said that the fourth wave of COVID-19 has affected the socio-economic situation of the country, especially the lives, health and living conditions of people and production of businesses.
However, the country has managed to maintain socio-economic stability, ensured national defence and security, and strengthened external relations, he noted. - Vietnam News
Is Cambodia on track to open for tourism in November?
With Phnom Penh becoming the most vaccinated city in Southeast Asia, moves are by the Ministry of Tourism and other related sub committees to formulate a workable plan within Cambodia’s tourism and investment sectors to work towards a possible reopening of borders for fully vaccinated international travelers by November this year.
The Cambodian tourism ministry recently announced that fully vaccinated international tourists with proof of their inoculation could be allowed into Cambodia as soon as November 2021. To make travel more convenient, Cambodia is also considering lessening or the full removal of the 14-day quarantine policy for fully vaccinated tourists, barring certification showing a negative COVID test 72-hours before travel and another negative COVID test upon arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport.
Cambodia is currently the second most vaccinated country in Southeast Asia after Singapore: the Kingdom has already inoculated over 70% of its 16.5 million people, while residents in the capital Phnom Penh are already fully vaccinated and are already receiving third booster doses.
The country anticipates it will reach herd immunity with 75 percent of its population double vaccinated by the end of September this year. The Cambodian government has also started vaccinating children over the age of 12 starting in August. - Khmer Times
Protégé of regime chief appointed Naypyitaw commander
Maj-Gen Zaw Hein, a key loyalist of Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has been appointed to head the military’s Naypyitaw Regional Command.
The move, which was made during a reshuffle on August 25, places the long-time protégé of the junta chief in one of the military’s most sensitive positions.
Zaw Hein, who was headmaster of the elite Defence Services Academy (DSA) in Pyin Oo Lwin prior to his appointment as Naypyitaw commander, also once served as Min Aung Hlaing’s personal service officer.
Naypyitaw is regarded as the most important of the military’s 14 regional commands because it controls security not only for the country’s administrative capital, but also for its top general. - Myanmar NOW
Decline in cases chance to improve medical resilience: ministry
Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono has said that the decline in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia is an opportunity to strengthen medical resilience in the country.
"The decline in cases should not make us complacent. Instead, this is the time for us to strengthen medical resilience," he remarked at a press conference, accessed online here on Monday.
Strengthening medical resilience is necessary because in several countries, such as the United States, Britain, and Israel, cases began to increase even though their vaccination rates were relatively high, he explained.
When there is a decline in cases like the current one, hospitals must improve their service quality, optimize handling protocols, and evaluate COVID-19 treatment properly, he advised. - AntaraNews.Com