Month: March 2020
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
COVID-19: Panic-buying in Tokyo as residents asked to hunker down for weekend
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TOKYO: Queues formed at supermarkets and stores in Tokyo on Friday (Mar 27) as residents in the Japanese capital prepared for a weekend at home after the city’s governor called on them to stay at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. After Governor Yuriko Koike’s plea on Wednesday to refrain from non-essential, non-urgent
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
South Korea pleads with residents to stay in isolation as coronavirus cases spread
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SEOUL: Authorities in South Korea pleaded with residents on Friday (Mar 27) to stay indoors and avoid large gatherings as new coronavirus cases hovered close to 100 per day. South Korea reported 91 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the national tally to 9,332, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Advertisement Advertisement
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
COVID-19: FairPrice expands purchase limits to include cooking oil, canned products; further caps on sales of toilet paper, poultry
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SINGAPORE: Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice expanded its purchase limits to include cooking oil and canned products, while making changes to previous restrictions on items like paper products and poultry. In a Facebook post on Friday (Mar 27), FairPrice said this was in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and a “precautionary measure to discourage resellers
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
China reports one local coronavirus case, 54 imported, cuts international flights
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BEIJING: Mainland China reported its first locally transmitted coronavirus case in three days and 54 new imported cases, as Beijing ordered airlines to sharply cut international flights fearing travellers could reignite the coronavirus outbreak. The 55 new cases reported on Thursday was down from 67 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said in a
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
G20 leaders pledge US$5t in ‘united’ response to coronavirus crisis
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RIYADH: World leaders on Thursday (Mar 26) promised US$5 trillion to stave off global economic collapse from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed 21,000 people and shut down huge swathes of the globe. From New York to Paris to New Delhi life has ground to standstill with some three billion people confined to their homes as
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
Australian researchers trial TB vaccine to fight coronavirus
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SYDNEY: Australian researchers are fast-tracking large-scale human testing to see if a vaccine used for decades to prevent tuberculosis can protect health workers from COVID-19, they announced on Friday (Mar 27). The trial of the BCG vaccine will be conducted with 4,000 health workers in hospitals around Australia to determine if it can reduce COVID-19
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
Australian federal, state leaders meet to discuss coronavirus pandemic
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SYDNEY: Australian federal and state leaders will meet on Friday (Mar 27), the country’s prime minister said, amid growing expectations the largest states could enforce a wide-ranging lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Further fiscal support measures are also expected to be discussed in the meeting of the prime minister, state premiers and chief ministers,
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
Commentary: The brewing concern over jobs and salaries as COVID-19 persists
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SINGAPORE: Against a backdrop of about 18,589 deaths and 415,000 infections, the COVID-19 outbreak is bringing the world to its knees. Globally, production lines and supply chains have been disrupted, stock markets are bearing down and businesses are buckling under. Singapore is no exception. We are seeing the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak just three
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
Commentary: Funeral homes and morgues face challenges as coronavirus death toll rises
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MELBOURNE: The coronavirus is not only affecting the way we live, it’s also dramatically affecting the way we die. In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that funerals would be limited to a maximum of ten people to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, the states may have some leeway in permitting an extra one
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
Commentary: What elections in a coronavirus outbreak could look like
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SINGAPORE: One of the most common precautions most of us encounter each day during this coronavirus outbreak has been advisories urging people to practise good hygiene and social distancing. But elections will challenge these public norms officials are painstakingly putting in place. Advertisement Advertisement Standing close to people at crowded rallies, handling personal identification and
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
COVID-19 Resilience Budget: ‘Landmark’ S$48 billion package to tide Singapore through ‘unprecedented’ crisis
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SINGAPORE: A public health crisis, an economic shock and a social test rolled into one – the COVID-19 outbreak has been an “unprecedented crisis of a highly complex nature”, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Thursday (Mar 26) as he announced what he called a Resilience Budget to help deal with the situation.
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
COVID-19 Budget: What you need to know about the Resilience Budget measures
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SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat delivered a ministerial statement on Thursday (Mar 26), announcing about S$48 billion in additional support measures from the Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Resilience Budget has three key areas: To save jobs and support workers; to help businesses overcome immediate challenges; and to
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 27, 2020
London hospitals facing ‘tsunami’ of COVID-19 patients: Health official
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LONDON: Hospital bosses and doctors on Thursday (Mar 26) warned of being swamped by a “tsunami” of COVID-19 patients in London, as Britain braced for a peak in cases and the government faced calls to urgently provide specialist kit and tests for frontline health workers. Scientists, though, warned that thousands of new ventilators may come
Commentary: Can chloroquine really treat COVID-19?
BALTIMORE, Maryland: An Arizona man died, and his wife was hospitalised, after taking a form of chloroquine, which US President Donald Trump has touted as an effective treatment for COVID-19. The couple decided to self-medicate with chloroquine phosphate, which they had on hand to kill parasites in their fish, after hearing the president describe the