Jumat, 30 April 2021

Singapore tightens COVID-19 measures, to bar visitors from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka - CNA

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2021-04-30 13:19:39Z
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Coffee or cocktail? Why not both, as Hong Kong (finally) embraces cafe-bars - South China Morning Post

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  1. Coffee or cocktail? Why not both, as Hong Kong (finally) embraces cafe-bars  South China Morning Post
  2. Hong Kong reports first untraceable local cases of Covid-19 variant; bans flights from Nepal  The Straits Times
  3. Coronavirus: mandatory testing ordered for Hong Kong domestic workers who have not been vaccinated, in bid to halt spread of Covid-19 variants  Yahoo Singapore News
  4. Coronavirus: Baffled restaurants opt out of Hong Kong 'vaccine bubble' on new system's launch day  AsiaOne
  5. Hong Kong to prohibit flights from Nepal in bid to halt imported cases following positive cases of mutant COVID-19 strain  The Online Citizen Asia
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2021-04-30 04:42:07Z
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Kamis, 29 April 2021

India's daily COVID-19 cases spike to new global record, as total infections cross 18 million mark - CNA

BENGALURU: India's COVID-19 infections crossed the 18 million mark on Thursday (Apr 29) with almost 380,000 new cases, breaking another world record for new daily infections.

The explosion in infections, blamed in part on a new virus variant as well as mass political and religious events, has overwhelmed hospitals with dire shortages of beds, drugs and oxygen.

According to health ministry data, India reported 379,257 new cases and 3,645 new deaths, taking its total caseload to 18.38 million and fatalities to 204,832. It was the highest number of deaths reported in a single day in India since the start of the pandemic.

This month alone, India has added more than 6 million new cases.

Experts said the country's best hope to curb its second deadly wave of COVID-19 was to vaccinate its vast population. On Wednesday it opened registrations for everyone above the age of 18 to be given jabs from Saturday.

But India, which is one of the world's biggest producers of vaccines, does not have the stocks for the estimated 600 million people becoming eligible.

READ: India's COVID-19 oxygen crisis: Why is there a deadly crunch?

Many people who tried to sign up said they failed, complaining on social media that they could not get a slot or they simply could not get online to register as the website repeatedly crashed.

"Statistics indicate that far from crashing or performing slowly, the system is performing without any glitches," the government said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The government said more than 8 million people had registered for the vaccinations, but it was not immediately clear how many had got slots.

About 9 per cent of India's population have received one dose since the vaccination campaign began in January with health workers and then the elderly.

The government's chief scientific advisor K Vijay Raghavan said in an interview with the Indian Express newspaper that the government could have done more to prepare for the second wave.

"There were major efforts by central and state governments in ramping up hospital and healthcare infrastructure during the first wave ... But as that wave declined, so perhaps did the sense of urgency," he said.

But "it is just not possible to amplify the capacities of a public health system within a year to a level that would be sufficient to cope with what we are seeing now", he added.

MAKESHIFT CREMATORIUMS

The crisis is particularly severe in New Delhi, with people dying outside packed hospitals where three people are often forced to share beds.

Delhi is reporting one death from COVID-19 every four minutes and ambulances have been taking the bodies of COVID-19 victims to makeshift crematorium facilities in parks and parking lots, where bodies burned on rows and rows of funeral pyres.

Ambulances have been taking the bodies of COVID-19 victims to makeshift crematorium facilities in parks and parking lots, where bodies burned on rows and rows of funeral pyres.

The World Health Organization said in its weekly epidemiological update that India accounted for 38 per cent of the 5.7 million cases reported worldwide to it last week.

READ: Indian COVID-19 variant found in at least 17 countries: WHO

Many nations have rushed to help, sending desperately needed oxygen and aid.

"India’s COVID outbreak is a humanitarian crisis," US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter.

"I’m leading a letter to @moderna_tx, @pfizer, and @jnjnews to find out what steps they’re taking to expand global access to their vaccines to save lives and prevent variants from spreading around the world."

GLOBAL AID

Two planes from Russia, carrying 20 oxygen concentrators, 75 ventilators, 150 bedside monitors, and medicines totalling 22 metric tonnes, arrived in the capital Delhi on Thursday.

As part of the global effort, Singapore said Wednesday it had sent two planeloads of oxygen supplies, and Germany will deliver 120 ventilators and plans to set up oxygen production.

Britain also announced Wednesday it was sending three oxygen "factories" the size of containers to India following a first consignment of aid this week.

Commentary: How did India go from exporting vaccines to reeling from COVID-19?

The United States is sending supplies worth more than US$100 million to India, including 1,000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests, the White House announced on Wednesday. It said the supplies will begin arriving on Thursday.

The United States also has redirected its own order of AstraZeneca manufacturing supplies to India, which will allow it to make over 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the White House.

Taiwan on Thursday said it had bought 150 oxygen concentrators and aimed to send them to India this weekend.

US WARNING

India will receive a first batch of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 on May 1. Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, which is marketing Sputnik V globally, has already signed agreements with five leading Indian manufacturers for over 850 million doses of the vaccine a year.

The US State Department issued a travel advisory warning on Wednesday against travel to India because of the pandemic and approved the voluntary departure of family members of US government employees in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for allowing massive political rallies and religious festivals which have been super spreader events in recent weeks.

READ: Destination Dubai: Jets in demand to escape India COVID-19 surge

More than 8.4 million eligible voters are set to vote on Thursday in the last phase of an eight-part election in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, even as the state witnesses a record rise in coronavirus cases.

"The people of this country are entitled to a full and honest account of what led more than a billion people into a catastrophe," Vikram Patel, The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School said in The Hindu newspaper.

The South Asia head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Udaya Regmi, said the world was entering a critical phase of the pandemic and needed to have vaccinations available for all adults as soon as possible.

Early modelling showed that the B1617 variant of the virus detected in India had a higher growth rate than other variants in the country, suggesting increased transmissibility, it said.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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2021-04-29 06:26:20Z
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Brazil says Russian COVID-19 vaccine carried live cold virus - CNA

WASHINGTON: Tainted batches of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine sent to Brazil carried a live version of a common cold-causing virus, the South American country's health regulator reported in a presentation explaining its decision to ban the drug's import.

Top virologist Angela Rasmussen told AFP the finding "raises questions about the integrity of the manufacturing processes" and could be a safety issue for people with weaker immune systems, if the problem was found to be widespread.

Russia's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, has denied the reports.

The issue centres around an "adenovirus vector" - a virus that normally causes mild respiratory illness but in vaccines is genetically modified so that it cannot replicate, and edited to carry the DNA instructions for human cells to develop the spike protein of the coronavirus.

This in turn trains the human system to be prepared in case it then encounters the real coronavirus.

The Sputnik V vaccine uses two different adenovirus vectors to accomplish this task: adenovirus type 26 (Ad26) for the first shot, and adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) for the second shot.

According to a slideshow uploaded online, scientists at Anvisa, Brazil's regulator, said they tested samples of the booster shot and found it was "replication competent" - meaning that once inside the body, the adenovirus can continue to multiply.

They added that this had likely occurred because of a manufacturing problem called "recombination", in which the modified adenovirus had gained back the genes it needed to replicate while it was being grown inside engineered human cells in a lab.

Brazilian regulators did not evaluate the first shot.

Rasmussen, a research scientist at Canada's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, described the error as a quality control issue, rather than a problem inherent to the technology.

If batches used in the real world were tainted, then "for most people this probably won't be a big deal because adenoviruses are generally not thought of as really important human pathogens," she said.

"But in people who are immune compromised ... there could be a higher rate of adverse effects because of it, including potentially serious ones."

The bigger problem, she added, was the unfortunate impact on confidence over a vaccine that a study in The Lancet journal showed was safe and more than 90 per cent effective.

If people aren't sure that the vaccine they are receiving is the same that was studied in trials, then "I can imagine that some people might have their reservations about getting that vaccine at all," said Rasmussen.

Another unknown is whether the manufacturing problem that led to the adenovirus vector being able to replicate also knocks out the DNA code for the spike protein - rendering the shot ineffective as a coronavirus vaccine.

Denis Logunov, deputy director of the Gamaleya Institute, has responded by saying "The statements I have read in the press have nothing to do with reality" and that the adenovirus vector was not able to replicate.

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2021-04-28 22:19:57Z
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Rabu, 28 April 2021

'War rooms' and oxygen: India's IT companies scramble to handle COVID-19 surge - CNA

BENGALURU: India's giant IT firms in Bengaluru and other cities have set up COVID-19 "war rooms" as they scramble to source oxygen, medicine and hospital beds for infected workers and maintain backroom operations for the world's biggest financial firms.

Banks including Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered, who run much of their global back office operations from large office parks in Bengaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad, have put in place infrastructure to vaccinate thousands of employees and their families when age restrictions are lifted on May 1.

Workers at huge technology service providers Accenture, Infosys and Wipro say teams are working 13 to 14 hours daily, under growing pressure and struggling to deliver on projects as staff members call in sick and take time off to care for friends and relatives.

They play down any threat of a collapse in operations - but at stake if the surge continues is the infrastructure put in place by the world's biggest financial companies in cost-cutting drives that have left them deeply reliant on the big Indian offices.

"Employees have contracted COVID-19 since the second wave began, causing severe pressure for projects that are nearing deadlines," said one employee at Accenture, asking not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Five other sources at Accenture confirmed the growing issues with pressure of work. Accenture said it was providing some medical care and covering the cost of vaccinations for its employees but did not comment on the impact on productivity.

READ: India's COVID-19 death toll surpasses 200,000 after record case surge

READ: Cricket - Indian Premier League helps lift COVID-19 gloom, show must go on, say organisers

Wipro said it has not seen any disruption to operations and has transferred some client projects to offices outside India.

Only about 3 per cent of its nearly 200,000 employees are now working from the office on critical projects, and it expects more of those employees to work from home, it said. For those who have to work from the office, Wipro said it had made living arrangements at guest houses and hotels nearby.

Infosys, India's second largest software services firm, said it was operating remotely across all offices and had not seen any impact on client projects, despite the deteriorating health situation in the country in recent weeks.

Tata Consultancy Services, India's top information technology (IT) services firm, similarly said its operations had not been affected.

India's second wave of infections has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week, overwhelming healthcare facilities and crematoriums and driving an increasingly urgent international response.

Asia's IT capital Bengaluru, desperate to calm a daily infection rate five times higher than in last year's first wave, on Monday ordered a full lockdown that allows ordinary residents to leave their homes only briefly between 6am and 10am.

Local IT managers say they struggled to get global chiefs outside India to recognise the seriousness of the outbreak.

COVID-19 'WAR ROOMS'

India's gigantic IT and call centre service industry employs more than 4.5 million people directly and relies on huge numbers of graduates under the age of 30.

They are paid a fraction of Western salaries and had largely ridden out the COVID-19 pandemic working from home until the relaxing of restrictions in recent months spurred companies to call more employees back to the office.

Managers at Goldman Sachs' massive complex in Bengaluru, for example, told staff in early March to prepare to return to full-scale office working.

Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said then that the bank owed it to its incoming class of analysts and interns to have them come to work in offices for at least part of the summer. The company quickly U-turned, sending all but essential employees home on Mar 27 as cases began to rise.

Another large bank, Wells Fargo, said its employees in India would continue to work remotely till at least early September.

New strains of the virus have since sent India's case numbers soaring to global records and brought more infections among younger Indians.

All 15 of the large companies Reuters spoke to this week said that they now had vaccination schemes in place. Several outlined COVID-19 "war rooms" they had launched to support staff and secure oxygen and other supplies.

Initially, managers outside India had not wanted their companies' Indian operations to be seen to be jumping the queue for vaccines, says a senior manager who runs a workforce of more than 600 staff at a global bank in Bengaluru, asking not to be identified.

"The India CEO and others here said: We don't care what it looks like, people are dying."

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2021-04-28 14:37:30Z
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Japan's unused 14 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines point to logistical hurdles - CNA

TOKYO: Japan has only used about a fifth of the COVID-19 vaccine doses it has imported so far, government data showed on Wednesday (Apr 28), underscoring logistical hurdles such as a shortage of medical staff as it grapples with a sluggish inoculation campaign.

Japan has secured the largest amount of COVID-19 vaccines in Asia, as it gears up for the Olympics in the summer. But it has inoculated only 1.6 per cent of its population so far, the slowest among wealthy countries.

By the end of April, Japan will have imported enough vials of Pfizer's vaccine for almost 17 million doses, according to a schedule from the Cabinet Office. But as of Wednesday, just over 3.2 million shots had been given out, mostly to healthcare workers.

READ: Japan declares COVID-19 emergency 3 months before Olympics

By comparison, South Korea, which began its inoculation campaign after Japan, has administered two-thirds of 3.87 million doses of AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines it had received so far, inoculating 4.7 per cent of its population.

Japan's unused shots suggest its inoculation push is failing to gain steam, even as inbound vaccine shipments triple over the next two months.

BOTTLENECKS

The country began its vaccination push in February, later than most major economies, and was dependent on scarce initial supplies of the Pfizer vaccine flown in from Europe. Vaccine minister Taro Kono has said that municipalities requested a slower rollout to give them time to set up inoculation centres and notify residents.

But as imports started to ramp up, other bottlenecks have become apparent, mainly in manpower. Japanese regulations say only doctors or nurses can administer the injections. The health ministry last week decided that dentists may also deliver shots.

COMMENTARY: Japan's slow-mo vaccination programme has a lot riding on it

Monthly imports from Pfizer factories in Europe are projected to more than triple, amounting to about 35 million doses coming into Japan in both May and June. Domestic regulators are now reviewing vaccine candidates from Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca, and approval of either would unlock tens of millions more doses.

There are signs the government is feeling the heat to speed up its vaccine push. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga this week tasked the Defense Ministry to set up a mass inoculation site in central Tokyo by May 24.

But the vaccination push has come too late to blunt a fourth wave of infections. The government declared a third state of emergency in its major population centres on Sunday, less than three months before the scheduled start of the Tokyo Olympics.

Japan expects to have more than enough doses in hand by June to fully vaccinate its sizeable elderly population. But there is still no timetable for when the general population will receive the shots, with some health experts expecting it could take until the winter or longer. 

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2021-04-28 11:10:32Z
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Myanmar unity government tells ASEAN no talks until prisoners freed - CNA

Myanmar's pro-democracy unity government, which includes members of parliament ousted by the military coup, has told Southeast Asia's regional bloc that it will not engage in talks until the junta releases all political prisoners.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a path for Myanmar out of a bloody crisis triggered by the Feb 1 coup and has called for an end to violence and talks between all sides.

But the junta has already declined to accept proposals to resolve the crisis that emerged from an ASEAN summit last weekend that was attended by Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, but no-one from the civilian side.

The pro-democracy National Unity Government (NUG), formed this month by opponents of the military, said ASEAN should be engaging with it as the legitimate representative of the people.

"Before any constructive dialogue can take place, however, there must be an unconditional release of political prisoners including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the NUG prime minister, Minister Mahn Winn Khaing Thann, said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from any senior officials in ASEAN.

READ: Myanmar protesters train to fight junta

READ: Myanmar activists call for new non-cooperation campaign

Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi have been detained since the coup, which the military launched as Aung San Suu Kyi's government was preparing for a second term after sweeping a November election.

The military said it had to seize power because its complaints of fraud in the election were not being addressed by an election commission that deemed the vote fair.

Pro-democracy protests have taken place in cities and towns across the country since the coup. The military has cracked down with lethal force on the protesters, killing more than 750 people, an activist group says. 

Reuters is unable to confirm the casualties as the junta has clamped down on media freedoms and journalists are among the many people who have been detained.

Alarmed by the turmoil in one of its members, ASEAN held a meeting on Saturday in the Indonesian capital with the leader of the junta in a bid to press him to end the crisis.

READ: Myanmar's junta to 'positively' consider ASEAN suggestion on ending crisis

READ: Myanmar shadow government welcomes ASEAN call to end violence

ASEAN did not invite a representative of Aung San Suu Kyi's ousted government.

ASEAN leaders said after the meeting they had reached a "five-point consensus" on steps to end violence and promote dialogue between the rival Myanmar sides.

MORE AIR STRIKES

The junta later said it would give "careful consideration" to ASEAN's suggestions, which included appointing an envoy to visit Myanmar, "when the situation returns to stability" and provided that ASEAN's recommendations facilitated the junta's own roadmap and served the country's interests.

Activists had earlier criticised the plan, saying it helped to legitimise the junta and fell far short of their demands.

In particular, it did not call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, and other political prisoners. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the coup.

READ: Myanmar junta postpones Aung San Suu Kyi court date again

The NUG is largely made up of ousted members of parliament together with politicians representing ethnic minorities and pro-democracy protest leaders.

Protesters marched in support of the NUG in the second city of Mandalay on Wednesday, the Myanmar Now media outlet reported.

The coup has also exacerbated old conflicts the military and ethnic minority insurgents who have been battling for years for greater autonomy in frontier regions.

READ: As ethnic armies unite against coup, war returns to Myanmar's borderlands

Commentary: As Myanmar coup persists, ethnic armed groups come under greater pressure to act

Fighting has flared between the army and Karen insurgents in the east near the Thai border, and between the army and Kachin insurgents in the north, near the border with China.

Clashes have also broken out in Chin State, which is on the border with India, between anti-coup activists and security forces. 

Karen insurgents captured Myanmar army posts near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since the coup which included air strikes by the military.

The military launched more air strikes in the area on Wednesday, villagers on the Thai side of the border said, but there was no immediate word on casualties.

The Karen and other ethnic minority forces based in frontier regions have supported the largely urban-based pro-democracy opponents of the junta.

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2021-04-28 05:18:07Z
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India's Covid-19 death toll passes 200000 with 3000 more fatalities in 24 hours - The Straits Times

BANGALORE (REUTERS) - India's Covid-19 death toll surged past 200,000 on Wednesday (April 28) as shortages of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital staff compounded a record number of new cases of the virus.

India's second wave of Covid-19 infections has seen at least 300,000 people a day test positive for the past week, overwhelming healthcare facilities and crematoriums and driving an increasingly urgent international response.

In the past 24 hours, 360,960 new cases were recorded, the largest single-day total in the world, taking India's total to nearly 18 million. A further 3,293 deaths, the deadliest day so far, took the death toll to 201,187.

Experts believe the official tally vastly underestimates the actual toll in the country of 1.3 billion.

In the capital, New Delhi, ambulances lined up for hours to take Covid-19 victims to makeshift crematorium facilities in parks and parking lots, where bodies burned on rows of funeral pyres.

Coronavirus sufferers - many struggling for breath - flocked to a Sikh temple on the outskirts of the city, hoping to secure some of the limited supplies of oxygen available there.

Police said a fire early on Wednesday at a hospital on the outskirts of Mumbai killed four people and injured several more.

Accidents at hospitals have been of grave concern for the country which is running short of beds and oxygen supplies. Last week, a fire broke out at a hospital treating Covid-19 patients and a leaking oxygen tank at another hospital led to the deaths of 22 people.

Supplies of life-saving oxygen and equipment have begun arriving in New Delhi, including ventilators and oxygen concentrators from Britain, with more dispatched from Ireland, Germany and Australia.


People with breathing problems due to Covid-19 waiting to receive oxygen support for free at a Sikh temple in Ghaziabad on April 27, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS


Patients breathe with the help of oxygen masks inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a Covid-19 ward in New Delhi on April 27, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

Several countries have suspended flights from India, taking steps to keep out more virulent variants of the virus.

United States President Joe Biden said he had spoken at length with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including as to when the US would be able to ship vaccines to the country, and said it was his clear intention to do so.

"I think we'll be in a position to be able to share, share vaccines as well as know-how with other countries who are in real need. That's the hope and expectation," he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

The US State Department's coordinator for global Covid-19 response, Ms Gayle Smith, warned that India's challenge will require a sustained effort: "We all need to understand that we are still at the front end of this. This hasn't peaked yet."

Related Stories: 

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2021-04-28 05:09:27Z
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Selasa, 27 April 2021

S'pore is best place to be during Covid-19 | ST NEWS NIGHT - The Straits Times

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2021-04-27 13:10:12Z
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Australia suspends flights from COVID-19 hotspot India - CNA

SYDNEY: Australia on Tuesday (Apr 27) suspended direct flights from India to prevent more virulent coronavirus variants entering the country following a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in the world's second-most populous nation.

India's coronavirus death toll neared the bleak milestone of 200,000 with another 2,771 fatalities reported on Tuesday, while its armed forces pledged urgent medical aid to help battle the staggering spike in infections.

The suspension of direct passenger flights between the two countries will remain until May 15, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a televised news conference.

"It is a humanitarian crisis and one gripping the world," Morrison said.

"We don't think the answer is to forsake those Australians in India and just shut them off," he added, reiterating the suspension was temporary to ensure Australia could manage arrivals from virus hotspots.

Australia's move impacts two passenger services from India into Sydney and two repatriating flights from India to Darwin, totalling about 500 arrivals.

READ: COVID-19 situation in India 'beyond heartbreaking': WHO chief

READ: Indian Americans in US Congress, tech organise COVID-19 aid to India

Morrison said the suspension would provide a "breather" to quarantine facilities in New South Wales state and the Northern Territory, given the majority of positive cases there came from India.

Australia, which has all but stamped out the coronavirus from its shores, closed its borders to non-citizens and permanent residents in March 2020 to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Returning residents and citizens have to undergo a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine at their own expense, a system that has largely helped Australia to keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just under 29,700 cases and 910 deaths.

The country reported zero new cases of community transmission on Tuesday.

Some state premiers had earlier voiced concerns about rising coronavirus cases in quarantine hotels, calling for a suspension on flights from India.

Western Australia, which on Monday emerged from a three-day snap lockdown after reporting one local case last week, had been among the most vocal.

"India, there needs to be a suspension," Premier Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth, ahead of the federal government's decision.

"There is huge pressure now on all our quarantine facilities as a result of people coming from India."

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2021-04-27 06:48:00Z
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Myanmar junta wants 'stability' before heeding pleas on violence - CNA

YANGON: Myanmar's junta said on Tuesday (Apr 27) that it will heed regional pleas to stop violence only when the coup-hit country "returns to stability", as fresh fighting erupted with a major ethnic rebel group along its eastern border.

The nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a Feb 1 coup, triggering an uprising that has seen security forces mount deadly crackdowns against protesters.

The violence - in which more than 750 people have been killed by security forces, according to a local monitoring group - has raised alarm among regional neighbours.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing attended a weekend meeting on the crisis with the leaders of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - his first overseas trip since he seized power.

The leaders issued a "five-point consensus" statement that called for the "immediate cessation of violence" and a visit to Myanmar by a regional special envoy.

READ: Myanmar's junta to 'positively' consider ASEAN suggestion on ending crisis

READ: Obama calls Myanmar violence 'heartbreaking', urges world to reject junta

On Tuesday, Myanmar's State Administrative Council - as the junta dubs itself - said it would consider the "constructive suggestions made by ASEAN leaders when the situation returns to stability in the country".

The statement also said its neighbours' suggestions would be "positively considered if (ASEAN) would facilitate the implementation" of the junta's five-step road map.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP that the regime was "satisfied" with the trip, saying they had been able to explain the "real situation" to ASEAN leaders.

But ASEAN is not known for its diplomatic clout, and observers have questioned how effectively it can influence the crisis.

Former United States ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel warned that the military's response to the Jakarta summit showed signs of backsliding already.

"ASEAN cannot dither here, as the junta moves to walk back even the limited agreement reached Saturday," Marciel said in a tweet.

"There should be urgent follow-up, and costs imposed on the junta for delay. There is a reason no one in Myanmar trusts the Tatmadaw," he said, referring to the military by its Burmese name.

READ: Myanmar protesters train to fight junta

READ: Insurgent group says it has captured Myanmar military outpost near Thai border

FIGHTING IN THE EAST

Since Feb 1, security forces have killed more than 750 civilians, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group tracking the death toll.

But the junta - which called AAPP an "illegal organisation" - has registered a far lower death toll while blaming the violence on "rioters".

Two days after the ASEAN meeting, a tea shop owner in Mandalay - a hotspot of unrest - was shot dead amid a protest that saw a violent crackdown by authorities, according to a rescue worker.

The anti-coup movement has garnered broad support across the country, including among some of Myanmar's armed insurgent groups which have for decades been fighting the military for more autonomy.

Smoke rises from a Myanmar military base, as seen from Mae Sam Laep in Thailand, after the base was
Smoke rises from a Myanmar military base, as seen from Mae Sam Laep in Thailand, after the base was captured by the Karen National Union. (Photo: AFP/Handout)

One of the most active opponents, the Karen National Union (KNU), has clashed with the military in their territory along Myanmar's eastern border for weeks.

On Tuesday, fighting broke out in Karen state near the Salween River, which demarcates part of the border, with residents on the Thai side reporting hearing gunfire and explosions coming from inside Myanmar.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun confirmed the attack by the KNU's Fifth Brigade, saying the rebels were not listening to the group's central command.

"We will continue to take action for security reasons," he said.

But Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the KNU's head of foreign affairs, called the junta's statement "nonsense", adding that their soldiers had razed the Tatmadaw's army base.

"This is a divide-and-rule technique ... we approve (of the Fifth Brigade's attack)," he said.

READ: Myanmar junta postpones Aung San Suu Kyi court date again

READ: Myanmar activists call for new non-cooperation campaign

"NOBODY DARES TO STAY"

Last month, after the KNU overran a military base in the same region, the junta responded with multiple air strikes at night - the first use of air offensives in Karen state in over 20 years.

Some villagers had already left their homes for other towns in fear of retaliation from the Myanmar military, said Hkara, a longtime ethnic Karen resident of Mae Sam Laep, a village on the Thai side of the border.

"Nobody dares to stay," she told AFP. "They ran early this morning already when the fire fighting started."

The fighting over recent weeks has displaced more than 24,000 civilians, including about 2,000 who crossed the river to seek refuge in Thailand before they were pushed back by border authorities.

An estimated one-third of Myanmar's territory - mostly in its border regions - is controlled by a myriad of rebel groups, who have their own militias.

The KNU has vocally condemned the military putsch, and have said they are sheltering at least 2,000 anti-coup dissidents who fled urban centres of unrest.

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2021-04-27 08:12:48Z
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Carrie Lam says Hong Kong government could intervene in Bar Association if necessary - CNA

HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday (Apr 27) the government could intervene if necessary in the Bar Association, whose chief has been labelled an "anti-China politician" by Beijing's top representative office in the city.

Paul Harris, chairman of the Bar Association, has been repeatedly targeted by pro-Beijing forces, with the latest remarks coming from the Liaison Office on Sunday criticising him for speaking out against jail terms handed down to several democracy activists this month.

READ: Jimmy Lai among 5 Hong Kong democracy activists jailed

Speaking at her weekly press briefing, Lam said that while Hong Kong respects freedom of expression, there are limits.

"For the time being I do not see the case for any government intervention into the affairs of the Hong Kong Bar Association," Lam said. "But, of course, if there are instances or complaints about the bar not acting in accordance with the Hong Kong law, then of course the government would be called into action."

Harris had challenged the prison terms given to media tycoon Jimmy Lai and others for taking part in an unauthorised assembly during anti-government demonstrations in 2019, and also defended the right to peaceful protests.

READ: China-drafted electoral reform Bill introduced in Hong Kong

The Liaison Office accused him of being "an anti-Chinese politician with intimate foreign connections," and questioned how he could safeguard the rule of law in the former British colony as well as if he should remain on as chairman.

Asked if an annual vigil to mark the Jun 4 anniversary of a crackdown on democracy protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 would violate a contentious national security law imposed on the city in June last year, Lam said only that respecting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was important.

"This year is the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the CCP. Everybody sees under the leadership of CCP, the taking-off of our country’s economy and the happy lives led by the people in these decades," Lam said. "So, respecting our country’s governing party is our stance."

On Monday, Civil Human Rights Front, organiser of an annual rally in Hong Kong on Jul 1, the date at which the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997, said police had asked it to provide details of its finances and explain other activities, sparking concern the protest might not go ahead this year.

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2021-04-27 04:19:11Z
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Senin, 26 April 2021

India's coronavirus crisis intensifies as nations pledge aid - The Straits Times

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - India’s coronavirus cases hit a record peak for a fifth day on Monday (April 26) as countries including Britain, Germany and the United States pledged to send urgent medical aid to help tackle the crisis overwhelming its hospitals.

Infections in the past 24 hours rose to 352,991, with overcrowded hospitals in Delhi and nationwide turning away patients after running out of supplies of medical oxygen and beds.

"Currently the hospital is in beg-and-borrow mode and it is an extreme crisis situation,” said a spokesman of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the capital.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying the storm of infections had shaken the nation.

In some of the worst-hit cities, including New Delhi, bodies were being burnt in makeshift facilities offering mass services.

Television channel NDTV broadcast images of three health workers in the eastern state of Bihar pulling a body along the ground on its way to cremation, as stretchers ran short.

“If you’ve never been to a cremation, the smell of death never leaves you,” Vipin Narang, a political science professor at MIT in the United States, said on Twitter.

“My heart breaks for all my friends and family in Delhi and India going through this hell.”

The United States will immediately send raw materials for vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to help India respond to its massive surge in infections, President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

Germany will send oxygen and medical aid in the coming days, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday, while the European Commission has also said it aims to send oxygen and medicines.

India, with a population of 1.3 billion, has a tally of 17.31 million infections and 195,123 deaths, after 2,812 deaths overnight, health ministry data showed.

Health experts say the death count is probably far higher.

The scale of the second wave knocked oil prices on Monday, as traders worried about a fall in fuel demand in the world’s third-biggest oil importer.

Rally backlash

Politicians, especially Mr Modi, have faced criticism for holding rallies attended by thousands of people, packed close together in stadiums and grounds, despite a brutal second wave of infections.

Several cities have ordered curfews, while police have been deployed to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing.

Still, about 8.6 million voters were expected to cast ballots on Monday in the eastern state of West Bengal, in the penultimate part of an eight-phase election that will wrap up this week.

Voting for local elections in other parts of India included the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which has been reporting an average of 30,000 infections a day.

Mr Modi’s plea on vaccinations came after inoculations peaked at 4.5 million doses on April 5, but have since averaged about 2.7 million a day, government figures show.

Several states, including Maharashtra, the richest, halted vaccinations in some places on Sunday, saying supplies were not available.

Supply has fallen short of demand as the inoculation campaign was widened this month, while companies struggle to boost output, partly because of a shortage of raw material and a fire at a facility making the AstraZeneca dose.

Hospitals in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat are among those facing an acute shortage of oxygen, doctors said.

Just seven ICU beds of a total of 1,277 were available in 166 private hospitals designated to treat the virus in the western state’s largest city of Ahmedabad, data showed.

“The problem is grim everywhere, especially in smaller hospitals, which do not have central oxygen lines and use cylinders,” said Mona Desai, former president of the Ahmedabad Medical Association.

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2021-04-26 06:42:07Z
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Myanmar junta postpones Aung San Suu Kyi court date again - CNA

YANGON: Myanmar's government again postponed court proceedings against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday (Apr 26), her lawyers said as they fight for permission to visit her 12 weeks after she was detained.

The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted the Nobel laureate in a Feb 1 coup, shunting the country back into military rule after a brief experiment with democracy.

Large swathes of the population have taken to the streets in protest, with security forces unleashing a brutal campaign to quell the massive uprising.

Meanwhile Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest, with the military charging her under six cases - including for sedition and having unlicensed walkie-talkies.

But movement on her case was once again delayed until May 10, her lawyer Min Min Soe said Monday after a hearing.

Twelve weeks since Aung San Suu Kyi was detained, Min Min Soe said they still have not received permission to meet their client face-to-face - one of many hurdles the team has faced.

"When the judge asked (police) which stage they have reached, they replied they couldn't tell specifically," she told AFP, adding that Aung San Suu Kyi was frustrated by the slow pace.

"I think she is not getting access to watch news and TV. I do not think she knows the current situation happening in the country," she said.

Besides not being able to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, military-imposed mobile data shutdowns have also prevented video-conferencing in previous hearings.

The most serious charge Aung San Suu Kyi faces falls under Myanmar's official secrets law, with a hearing due in Yangon on May 6.

'ERADICATE THE FASCIST ARMY'

Nationwide protests continued Monday, with demonstrators in the south holding signs that said "Free our leaders" and waving red flags emblazoned with a golden peacock - the symbol of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party.

In commercial hub Yangon, dozens of protesters took part in a flash mob which lasted only 10 minutes - a lightning-quick show of resistance to avoid confrontation with security forces.

Waving a three-finger salute, they chanted "Eradicate the fascist army!"

The military has justified its power grab by claiming it is protecting democracy, alleging electoral fraud in November elections which the NLD won in a landslide.

READ: Myanmar activists call for new non-cooperation campaign

READ: Myanmar shadow government welcomes ASEAN call to end violence

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing had travelled to Jakarta over the weekend for a top-level meeting with the 10-country bloc of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - his first overseas trip since his power grab.

The meeting produced a "consensus statement" that called for the cessation of violence, but stopped short of demanding a release of political prisoners.

It drew condemnation from much of Myanmar's civil society - already angered by ASEAN's invitation to the general.

"The statement does not include what the civilians are asking for - respect for their basic human rights, democracy and peace," said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group that has tracked post-coup Myanmar's escalating death toll.

"People in Burma are not asking for humanitarian aid, but for the international community to stand for the truth," it said, referring to Myanmar by its former name.

According to AAPP's latest figures, security forces have killed more than 750 people.

The military has given a much lower death toll and blames the violence on "rioters".

State-run television news on Monday night called AAPP an "illegal association", and action will be taken against it.

It also reported that one member of the security forces was killed in Chin state, when their convoy was attacked by people with homemade guns.

'SOLVE ITS OWN PROBLEMS'

Also present in Indonesia over the weekend was the UN special envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener - who has so far been denied a visit to the country.

According to UN sources, Burgener spoke with senior General Min Aung Hlaing briefly on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.

A spokesperson from Indonesian Foreign Ministry confirmed that she was "in communication" but no further detail was provided.

The special envoy had previously implored the UN Special Council to take action against the generals, warning that "a bloodbath is imminent" if the international community continues to stall.

So far, western powers like the US, EU and Britain have imposed sanctions targeting military top brass and army-affiliated businesses.

But Myanmar's allies Russia and China have been seen to be blocking efforts for a wider response, such as imposing an arms embargo, according to the EU foreign policy chief.

On Monday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is following Myanmar's situation "with great attention".

"However, Russia is bound by long-standing relations with Burma, and we are keen on it," he said, adding that Myanmar must "solve its own problems".

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2021-04-26 10:31:54Z
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India COVID-19 cases sets new global record for 5th straight day - CNA

BENGALURU: India on Monday (Apr 26) set a global record for a rise in daily coronavirus cases for a fifth straight day, while deaths from COVID-19 also jumped by an all-time high over the last 24 hours.

With 352,991 new cases, India's total caseload has crossed 17 million. Deaths rose by a record 2,812 to reach a total of 195,123, with overcrowded hospitals in Delhi and elsewhere turning away patients after running out of supplies of medical oxygen and beds.

"Currently the hospital is in beg-and-borrow mode and it is an extreme crisis situation," said a spokesman of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the capital.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to get vaccinated and exercise caution, while hospitals and doctors have put out urgent notices saying they were unable to cope with the rush of patients.

People were arranging stretchers and oxygen cylinders outside hospitals as they desperately pleaded for authorities to take patients in, Reuters photographers said.

"Every day, it the same situation, we are left with two hours of oxygen, we only get assurances from the authorities," one doctor said on television.

In some of the worst-hit cities, including the capital, bodies were being burnt in makeshift facilities offering mass services.

Television channel NDTV broadcast images of three health workers in the eastern state of Bihar pulling a body along the ground on its way to cremation, as stretchers ran short.

"If you've never been to a cremation, the smell of death never leaves you," Vipin Narang, a political science professor at MIT in the United States, said on Twitter.

"My heart breaks for all my friends and family in Delhi and India going through this hell."

India has seen a devastating new wave of Covid infections in the past week, with bodies piling up
India has seen a devastating new wave of Covid infections in the past week, with bodies piling up outside hospitals inundated with cases AFP/Gagan NAYAR

Politicians, especially Modi, have faced criticism for holding rallies attended by thousands of people, packed close together in stadiums and grounds, despite a brutal second wave of infections.

Several cities have ordered curfews, while police have been deployed to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing.

Still, about 8.6 million voters were expected to cast ballots on Monday in the eastern state of West Bengal, in the penultimate part of an eight-phase election that will wrap up this week.

Voting for local elections in other parts of India included the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which has been reporting an average of 30,000 infections a day.

Singapore, the United States and Germany have sent vaccine components and medical equipment, including much-needed oxygen-related supplies, to help India tackle the crisis. 

The European Commission has also said it aims to send oxygen and medicines to India after receiving a request from Delhi. 

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

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2021-04-26 05:26:15Z
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