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.
50-year-old is youngest Singaporean Covid-19 fatality; 1,457 new cases
A total of 1,457 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Singapore on Wednesday (Sept 22), said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its nightly update.
A 50-year-old Singaporean man died of Covid-19 on Tuesday. He was not vaccinated and had no known medical conditions. He is the youngest local Covid-19 fatality to date.
Two other Singaporeans have also died of Covid-19 complications, taking the Republic's Covid-19 death toll to 68, said MOH.
Before this, the highest number of new Covid-19 cases recorded in Singapore stood at 1,426 cases on April 20 last year.
Of the local cases reported on Wednesday, 1,277 were in the community and 176 cases were among dormitory residents.
The remaining four cases were imported. - Straits Times
Covid-19 fatalities jump from 334 to 487
Malaysia recorded 487 deaths from Covid-19 as of 11.59pm yesterday, a jump from 334 fatalities reported the day before.
This is the second highest total number of deaths recorded in September, after 592 fatalities on Sept 11.
According to CovidNow, 161 of the deaths were brought-in-dead (BID) cases.
However, the seven-day actual average is on a downward trend as of yesterday, at 106.
The coronavirus has since claimed 24,565 lives in Malaysia since the pandemic struck last year. - New Straits Times
Anutin sets mass vaccination targets
All target groups will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of the year, while supplies of a booster shot are planned for certain groups this year and all groups in the year to come, the government said on Wednesday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that almost 60 million Covid-19 vaccine doses are expected to have been administered by the end of October.
He said all target groups will be fully vaccinated by the year-end.
On average between 700,000 and 800,000 doses are administered per day, Mr Anutin said.
"Those who have already received both shots of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine will be injected with a booster shot of AstraZeneca, by the end of this year as well," he said.
"The booster shot injection programme is scheduled to begin on Sept 24 [tomorrow]."
As for next year, he said the government plans to procure about 100 million more vaccine doses for use as a booster shot for all target groups in the first half of the year. - Bangkok Post
PNP gets anti-terror equipment from US Embassy
The United States Embassy donated various police equipment to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Wednesday.
In a statement Thursday, PNP director for logistics, Maj. Gen. Angelito Casimiro, said the US Embassy's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance (DS/ATA), led by regional security officer Stephen Lesniak turned over 18 sets of Cellebrite and 57 units of laptop computers to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG).
Meanwhile, four units of Ford Ranger, six units of bomb suit, five units logo scanner and veterinary equipment/aircon/clinic renovation were given to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal K9 Group EOD/K9. - Philippine News Agency
People urged to not put off medical visits despite COVID-19
Children who have a fever for two straight days and other early symptoms of dengue fever should visit doctors as soon as possible to prevent complicated development of the disease, especially when the rainy season is coming, which can worsen dengue fever outbreaks.
Doctors also raised concerns that due to fears of COVID-19 infections, many people have been delaying visits to doctors.
According to the Centre for Children’s Tropical Diseases under the Hanoi-based National Children’s Hospital, in the last two months, the centre received more than 60 children with dengue fever. Among them, the youngest was only six days old. - Vietnam News
Department of Tourism: Some provinces now require vaccination card or rapid test for tourists
Directors of the Department of Tourism have reported that, in some provinces, those who do not have a vaccination card are required to take a quick test, but if they do not accept the quick test, they are not allowed to eat or stay.
For those who have been vaccinated, there is an additional incentive through a 5% or 10% discount.
The information came from a video meeting of the Department of Tourism yesterday
Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism, said that almost all tourism workers across the country have been vaccinated against COVID-19 virus.
The Minister emphasized that the Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Tourism have encouraged all tour operators and staff at all tourist destinations to get vaccinated to support the plan to promote domestic tourism as well as the preparation plan to open to foreign tourists in the future as well. - Khmer Times
KIA-PDF joint force attack Myanmar army in Sagaing
The Myanmar army reportedly suffered heavy casualties during a clash with a joint force made up of troops from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and local People’s Defence Force (PDF) Sagaing Region’s Katha Township on Monday.
The KIA-PDF alliance attacked the junta’s armed forces in the Moedar area, adjacent to Kachin State and located on the banks of the Irrawaddy River.
Around 40 junta soldiers were killed by the resistance force but neither the KIA nor the PDF suffered casualties, according to a statement released by the defence ministry of the National Unity Government (NUG) later that day. - Myanmar NOW
Target of 2 mln daily vaccinations can be achieved: Prabowo
National Police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo believes the daily vaccination target of two million doses is could be achieved soon through the simultaneous organization of mass vaccinations in several parts of Indonesia, an official said.
“The National Police chief mentioned the daily vaccination target of two million doses set by the President can be achieved through mass simultaneous vaccination,” chief of the information, documentation and information and data management section in the public relations division of the National Police, Senior Commissioner Tjahyono Saputro, said on Wednesday.
By setting a clear target for vaccinations and implementing the vaccination program consistently, Indonesia has made it to the top ten countries in terms of the number of COVID-19 vaccinations, as of August 12, 2021, he noted.
According to the latest data, Indonesia has administered 79.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, making it the best-performing country in Southeast Asia in terms of coronavirus vaccinations, he said. - AntaraNews.Com