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.
Omicron cases now make up 17% of Covid-19 infections in S'pore: Ong Ye Kung
The Omicron variant now accounts for 17 per cent of Covid-19 cases in Singapore, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Monday (Jan 3).
This means that an Omicron wave is imminent and the country needs to be prepared, he added.
In a New Year post on Facebook, the minister gave an update of the overall coronavirus situation. - Straits Times
MetMalaysia: Strong winds, rough seas warning
The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has forecasted strong winds and rough seas (second category) over waters off Condore and northwest of Reef North until Thursday.
In a statement today, the department said there will be strong north-easterly winds of 50 to 60 kmh with waves reaching heights of up to 4.5 metres there.
"These high winds and rough seas are dangerous to all shipping and coastal activities including fishing and ferry services," it said today. - New Straits Times
Test & Go to remain on ice for month
The government is to consider further delaying the resumption of the Test & Go scheme until the end of this month following the spike in Omicron cases in the country.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that concern over the global Omicron outbreak previously prompted the government to originally suspend the entry of both Thais and foreign arrivals until today.
However, Omicron infections have been detected among prior arrivals, he said. - Bangkok Post
1.2M families affected by 'Odette': NDRRMC
The number of families affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in December has reached 1,242,737 residing in more than 6,794 barangays in 11 regions, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Tuesday.
In its update, the NDRRMC said the affected communities are located in Mimaropa, Bicol region; western, central, and eastern Visayas; Zamboanga Peninsula; Northern Mindanao; Davao region; Soccsksargen; Caraga; and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
A total of 1,487 evacuation centers are still operating and serving 86,227 families while 36,364 families are being aided outside shelters by friends and families. - Philippine News Agency
HCM City issues quarantine procedure for arrivals in face of Omicron
HCM City People’s Committee has just issued urgent guidelines for a five-step quarantine procedure for arriving passengers amid the emergence of the Omicron variant in Vietnam.
According to the document, the self-quarantine area (including homes, hotels, offices, dormitories, guest houses) must meet the standards required by the Ministry of Health.
If the accommodation fails to meet these criteria, incoming passengers will have to go into centralised quarantine facilities. - Vietnam News
Another year of living with the virus, Omicron predicted to be under control in months
Scientists seem to agree that Covid-19 is likely to stay with us this year but the symptoms will be less severe than earlier variants. They say this is because the virus needs to prevent the host from death.
The rapidly increasing number of daily infections caused by the Omicron variant is now being seen in many countries in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. In the United Kingdom alone, it is predicted that at least 1.7 million people are infected with the Omicron strain. But much evidence has shown the new variant appears to trigger less severe illness than its viral predecessors.
In Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health made a study of 100 Omicron-infected patients and found that 48% are asymptomatic, 41% show illness and in 11% of cases they are collecting more information. - Khmer Times
Junta forces and military-backed armed group terrorise Sagaing residents
Displaced locals from Sagaing Region’s Taze Township said they saw smoke rising from their village on Sunday morning after a clash between local resistance forces and junta troops broke out there one day earlier.
The military occupied the village—Kar Paung Kya—after opening fire with heavy weapons on members of the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Taze.
According to a member of the Taze PDF, they clashed with more than 100 junta soldiers for 45 minutes after the resistance group launched an attack near Kar Paung Kya using explosives. The Taze PDF was forced to retreat after the military retaliated, he added, with the coup regime’s soldiers remaining in Kar Paung Kya. - Myanmar NOW
Flurona not new COVID-19 variant: IDI
Flurona does not refer to a new COVID-19 variant but the occurrence of multiple infections caused by two different viruses, head of the COVID-19 Task Force at the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has emphasized.
"Regarding Flurona, it is not a new variant of COVID-19, but multiple infections, which means there are two types of viruses that infect a person (at the same time)," Zubairi Djoerban explained when contacted by ANTARA here on Monday.
He made the statement in response to reports of a pregnant woman in Israel getting infected with two viruses--influenza and coronavirus--at the same time. Such a condition is caused by a weak immune system, he said adding, such cases are, therefore, rare. - AntaraNews.Com