JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) – Indonesia is shifting away from its goal of reaching herd immunity for Covid-19 as the rise of the more infectious Delta variant pushes the threshold beyond reach. Currently available vaccines are less effective at stopping transmission of the Delta variant, making it possible for the virus to continue circulating even if everyone […]
SINGAPORE – Another mask distribution exercise is to start this month. And, this time, the Temasek Foundation will hand out free surgical and N95 masks. The Delta variant is twice as contagious as the coronavirus variants that caused Covid-19 last year, and will require Singapore residents to wear more effective masks to bring down infection […]
BANGKOK (REUTERS) – The chairman of Thailand’s Thonburi Healthcare Group (THG) said on Wednesday (Aug 4) that a deal to import 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was unlikely to happen, despite his earlier claims that the deal was close. Thailand is battling its biggest Covid-19 outbreak yet, and has been racing to […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s King has consented to a confidence vote when Parliament reconvenes in September, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Wednesday (Aug 4), just hours after at least 11 Umno MPs withdrew support for his government. The Premier announced this in a televised national address following a morning audience with the King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who […]
MANILA (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Hair stylist Claire Ann Milan, 43, earns just enough to buy food and other daily needs for her household. Car shop machinist Ronaldo Morales, 49, is the breadwinner for a family of six. Both will be made to fend for themselves when Metro Manila and nearby provinces are […]
DAQIAO, CHINA (AFP) – First the entire village is shooed indoors, its power supply is cut, and finally bananas and other elephant treats are dumped on the opposite side of town to coax the uninvited guests to pass through. So goes the routine welcome ceremony for China’s wayward herd of 14 wild elephants, whose wandering […]
SINGAPORE – Phylogenetic testing compares different virus genomes and helps scientists to deduce the index case of a Covid-19 cluster. In the case of the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, the authorities were able to determine that the strains relating to the cluster were of the Delta variant, and similar to what was seen in imported […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia’s Queensland state reported 16 locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Wednesday (Aug 4) as authorities warned that a lockdown in state capital Brisbane might be extended beyond Sunday if people flout the tough restrictions. It was the same number of cases as detected on Tuesday, and seven were linked to three schools. […]
KABUL (REUTERS) – A powerful blast followed by sporadic gunfire hit Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday (Aug 3) near the city’s heavily fortified “Green Zone”, an area home to government buildings and foreign embassies, police officials said. A senior security official said the blast appeared to have been caused by a car bomb and the […]
KABUL (REUTERS) – A powerful blast followed by sporadic gunfire hit Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday (Aug 3) near the city’s heavily fortified “Green Zone”, an area home to government buildings and foreign embassies, police officials said. A senior security official said the blast appeared to have been caused by a car bomb and the […]