Month: March 2020
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
India says no plan to extend COVID-19 lockdown as poor struggle
News Business Article
NEW DELHI: India has no plans to extend a 21-day lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the government said on Monday (Mar 30), as it struggled to keep essential supplies flowing and prevent tens of thousands of out-of-work people fleeing to the countryside. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the country’s 1.3 billion people
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Singapore’s fundamentals still strong although COVID-19 could slow foreign investments: DPM Heng
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SINGAPORE: The COVID-19 outbreak could slow down foreign investments but the country’s fundamentals remain strong and the reasons why global firms will want to invest in Singapore are still “intact”, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Monday (Mar 30). Mr Heng was responding to a question on how the rapid spread of the
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
COVID-19: Malaysia to implement enhanced measures for second phase of movement control order
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PUTRAJAYA: Malaysian authorities are set to implement enhanced measures to better contain the spread of COVID-19, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Monday (Mar 30). Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Mr Ismail Sabri, who is also defence minister, explained that these enhanced measures will kick in during phase two of the movement control order (MCO) from
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
High Court judge dismisses all three challenges to Section 377A
News Business Article
SINGAPORE: Three men have failed in their challenges against section 377A of the penal code, after a High Court judge dismissed their court actions against the law that criminalises sex between men on Monday (Mar 30). Justice See Kee Oon will release his full judgment grounds at a later date, lawyers told CNA outside the chambers
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Ardern’s online messages keep spirits up in New Zealand’s coronavirus lockdown
News Business Article
WELLINGTON: Hours after New Zealand imposed a nationwide lockdown to beat a coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took to Facebook, livestreaming in a sweater from bed, to “check in” on citizens and tell them of the day’s events. Ardern’s news conferences for more than 30 minutes a day, taking queries, streaming Facebook videos and
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
COVID-19: UK trials new breathing aid developed by Mercedes Formula One
News Business Article
LONDON: A new version of a breathing aid that can help coronavirus patients has been developed in less than a week by a team involving Mercedes Formula One, and is being trialled at London hospitals. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices have been used in China and Italy to deliver air and oxygen under pressure
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Police site crashes as New Zealanders turn into shutdown snitches
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WELLINGTON: New Zealanders have become so keen to report their neighbours for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules that police on Monday (Mar 30) said a website dedicated to addressing the issue crashed soon after going live. The South Pacific nation is in the midst of a four-week COVID-19 lockdown, with residents under orders to stay at
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
COVID-19: Malaysia’s Chinese community urged to observe Qing Ming festival at home amid movement control order
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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Chinese community has been urged by the government, as well as religious and grassroots associations, to observe this year’s Qing Ming festival at home amid an extended movement control order (MCO). In a Facebook post on Sunday (Mar 29), Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said the Chinese tradition of performing rituals and paying
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
US and China swapping insults, blaming each other for COVID-19 won’t help solve the problem: PM Lee
News Business Article
SINGAPORE: US-China ties were already “complicated” before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the blame game between them over the outbreak will not help “solve the problem sooner”, particularly in a time when countries need to work together, said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Mr Lee was speaking on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, which aired on Sunday
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
China slashes rate, pumps US$7 billion into market to counter COVID-19 impact
News Business Article
BEIJING; China’s central bank on Monday (Mar 30) cut an interest rate on loans to banks by the largest margin in five years and injected 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion) into the financial system to help the world’s second-largest economy weather the coronavirus impact. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said it launched a 50-billion-yuan reverse
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Thailand reports 136 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 1,524
News Business Article
BANGKOK: Thailand saw 136 new coronavirus cases on Monday (Mar 30), raising the total number of infections to 1,524, said the spokesman of the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Infections in Thailand are likely to keep rising, and recently new cases have been reported more in the provinces than in the Thai capital,
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
US regulator approves limited use of malaria drugs for COVID-19
News Business Article
WASHINGTON: A limited emergency-use authorisation for two anti-malarial drugs touted as gamechangers by President Donald Trump has been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat coronavirus patients. In a statement published on Sunday (Mar 29), the US Department of Health and Human Services detailed recent donations of medicine to a national stockpile
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Japanese comedian Ken Shimura dies from coronavirus
News Business Article
TOKYO: Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, who had been hospitalised after being infected with COVID-19, has died, becoming the first Japanese celebrity to die of the virus. His death, late on Sunday, set off widespread grief among fans. Advertisement Advertisement Shimura, 70, one of Japan’s best-known comedians with a career dating back to the early 1970s,
Commentary: Is loss of smell or taste an early sign of the COVID-19?
Commentary Commentary There is no hard evidence yet that the loss of smell is a COVID-19 symptom, but this may change, says an observer. A German doctor takes a sample from a car driver at a drive-through testing point for the coronavirus in Halle, eastern Germany AFP/Ronny Hartmann 30 Mar 2020 01:25PM(Updated: 30 Mar 2020