Singapore's migrant workers are suffering the brunt of the country's coronavirus outbreak - CNN

In recent weeks, the Asian city-state has had a dramatic spike in coronavirus infections, with thousands of new cases linked to clusters in foreign worker dormitories. To control the spread, the government has attempted to isolate the dormitories, test workers and move symptomatic patients into quarantine facilities.

But those measures have left hundreds of thousands of workers trapped in their dormitories, living cheek by jowl in cramped conditions that make social distancing near impossible.

Singapore is home to about 1.4 million migrant workers who come largely from South and Southeast Asia. As housekeepers, domestic helpers, construction workers and manual laborers, these migrants are essential to keeping Singapore functioning -- but are also some of the lowest paid and most vulnerable people in the city.

Rubel, who goes only by one name, came to Singapore from Bangladesh six years ago to work in construction and earn money for his family. Now, with his health and safety at risk, he's worried for those who depend on him.

"I'm scared of this coronavirus, because if I catch it I cannot take care of my family," he said.

In the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore was praised for its response and apparent ability to suppress infections without resorting to extreme measures.

Then, in April, the number of cases exploded. Since March 17, Singapore's total cases grew from 266 to 12,075, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Even as the number of new cases surged past 1,000 a day, only a dozen or so per day were Singapore citizens of permanent residents; the rest were all migrant workers.

Singapore was built by migrants

Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is often credited as the visionary who helped transform the city-state into the developed metropolis it is today. But much of Singapore, including iconic sites like the gleaming Marina Bay Sands, was built by imported labor.

Forty years ago, Singapore was less economically developed, with a per-capita income of $4,071 a year, according to the International Labor Organization. Without much land or natural resources, the government instead focused on investing in education, especially in the STEM subjects and vocational training, and creating an export-oriented economy that would obtain wealth through industrialization.

But Singapore had -- and still has -- a small population, presenting the problem of manpower. So the government turned to foreign labor, and has been doing so ever since. Of the city's 5.7 million residents today, nearly a quarter are foreign workers, according to government figures.

The ambitious plan to develop Singapore worked -- at least, for Singaporeans. The cheap foreign labor fueled growth, raising Singapore's average income to $56,786 by 2019 and making it one of the wealthiest places in the world in GDP per capita.

But critics say that foreign workers have been sidelined, left mostly living in tougher conditions with fewer benefits or protections than their Singaporean neighbors -- meaning when a crisis like Covid-19 arrives, they are the first and hardest hit.

The dormitories were a 'time bomb'

Singapore started seeing its cases spike around April 4, with 75 new cases -- its biggest single-day jump at the time.

Authorities traced clusters back to the dormitories, which were built specifically for migrant workers and subject to government regulations. About 200,000 workers live in 43 dormitories in Singapore, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.

Conditions are usually cramped, with about 10 to 20 workers sharing each room. Government regulations require the rooms provide 4.5 square meters (about 48 square feet) per occupant, meaning the rooms typically range from 45 to 90 square meters (484 to 968 square feet).

Videos sent to CNN from one dormitory show workers lying in a line of bunk beds, where they sleep just a few feet away from each other. The workers, the majority of whom are male, and from less economically developed countries, share toilets, shower stalls, laundry clotheslines, storage spaces, and line up together to receive food.

There's simply no way to self-isolate or avoid close contact, which may be why the coronavirus spread so fast and far here.

There's also the fact that authorities seem to have overlooked this risk and didn't alert the migrant worker community until it was too late, said Alex Au, vice president of the Singaporean non-profit organization Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2).

"When the government of Singapore, governments all over the world, issued safe distancing advice, I think they overlooked the fact that safe distancing cannot be possible when construction workers and other blue-collar workers are housed ten men, 20 men, in a room," he said. "The failure, I think, to see clearly the risks and to take measures to mitigate the risks, left us with a very bad situation right now."

As the number of new daily cases spiked, the government locked down dorms, stepped up hygiene measures inside, and closed recreational common spaces, said the Ministry of Manpower. They also tried to space out residents more, and moved some workers into military camps, floating hotels, and vacant government apartments.

In some dorms, workers say the government measures have reassured residents. Zasim, a 27-year-old worker from Bangladesh, said he had been provided with face masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, soap, and fresh fruit by the government. Authorities had also supplied free WiFi and extra phone cards so Zasim and his dorm-mates could spend their days under lockdown talking to friends and family, he said.

Like Rubel, Zasim's main concern was the shutdown's financial impact -- but he feels less worried now that the government has said migrant workers should get paid, even if they can't work, and subsidized employers to make that possible.

Rubel, too, said his living spaces are now clean and the workers are provided with food -- but the mood at his dorm remains tense. Even with the additional protective measures, people are still sharing close quarters, and workers worry they may be living among asymptomatic carriers.

"It's extremely stressful for anybody to be confined in these conditions," said Desiree Leong, the casework executive at the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics in Singapore. "You're being kept in there all day, or most of the day. It's causing a lot of anxiety and stress, a lot of tension."

Tommy Koh, a Singapore lawyer and former diplomat, was more blunt in a widely-shared Facebook post earlier this month.

"The dormitories were like a time bomb waiting to explode," he wrote. "The way Singapore treats its foreign workers is not First World but Third World. The government has allowed their employers to transport them in flat bed trucks with no seats. They stay in overcrowded dormitories and are packed likes sardines with 12 persons to a room."

Calls for reform

The crisis unfolding in the dormitories has led activists to call for broader reforms on living and working conditions for migrant workers beyond the coronavirus pandemic.

Working in a city without a minimum wage, they earn a fraction of the salaries of white-collar employees. The average migrant worker earns about $400 to $465 a month, compared to the average Singaporean monthly salary of $3,077, according to data from TWC2.

Some employers also don't provide medical care or paid sick leave to migrant workers -- the consequences of which became clear during the pandemic. Even as late as March, some employers discouraged their migrant workers from going to the doctor when they felt unwell, or docked their pay for taking the time off, said Leong.

And workers don't have many avenues to address these issues; their visas are tied to their employers, who can terminate work permits at any time, so filing a complaint against your boss could jeopardize not only your job but your migration status.

"This present crisis actually reflects a far bigger systemic problem of the state being relatively fine or not so concerned about the welfare, the well-being, and the rights of migrants," said Au, the NGO vice president.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower has previously said that it prosecutes employers who willfully refuse to pay workers, and has taken action against dormitory operators who fail to follow regulations. An operating company and its director were prosecuted last year after their dormitories were found to have broken lights and shower taps, and "filthy" living conditions.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, however, some government leaders are acknowledging there is still much work to be done in improving migrant workers' rights and standards of living.

"Should standards in foreign worker dormitories be raised? There's no question in my mind, answer is 'yes'," wrote Minister Teo on Facebook in early April, as the first few dormitories were being locked down.

"I hope the Covid-19 episode demonstrates to the employers and wider public that raising standards at worker dormitories is not only the right thing to do, but also in our own interests," she wrote.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also thanked migrant workers for their contributions to Singapore and their cooperation during the pandemic in a press release on Tuesday.

"To our migrant workers, let me emphasize again: we will care for you, just like we care for Singaporeans," he said. "We will look after your health, your welfare and your livelihood. We will work with your employers to make sure that you get paid, and you can send money home ... This is our duty and responsibility to you, and your families."

CNN's James Griffiths contributed reporting

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2020-04-25 02:24:58Z
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Singapore's migrant workers are suffering the brunt of the country's coronavirus outbreak - CNN

In recent weeks, the Asian city-state has had a dramatic spike in coronavirus infections, with thousands of new cases linked to clusters in foreign worker dormitories. To control the spread, the government has attempted to isolate the dormitories, test workers and move symptomatic patients into quarantine facilities.

But those measures have left hundreds of thousands of workers trapped in their dormitories, living cheek by jowl in cramped conditions that make social distancing near impossible.

Singapore is home to about 1.4 million migrant workers who come largely from South and Southeast Asia. As housekeepers, domestic helpers, construction workers and manual laborers, these migrants are essential to keeping Singapore functioning -- but are also some of the lowest paid and most vulnerable people in the city.

Rubel, who goes only by one name, came to Singapore from Bangladesh six years ago to work in construction and earn money for his family. Now, with his health and safety at risk, he's worried for those who depend on him.

"I'm scared of this coronavirus, because if I catch it I cannot take care of my family," he said.

In the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore was praised for its response and apparent ability to suppress infections without resorting to extreme measures.

Then, in April, the number of cases exploded. Since March 17, Singapore's total cases grew from 266 to 12,075, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Even as the number of new cases surged past 1,000 a day, only a dozen or so per day were Singapore citizens of permanent residents; the rest were all migrant workers.

Singapore was built by migrants

Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is often credited as the visionary who helped transform the city-state into the developed metropolis it is today. But much of Singapore, including iconic sites like the gleaming Marina Bay Sands, was built by imported labor.

Forty years ago, Singapore was less economically developed, with a per-capita income of $4,071 a year, according to the International Labor Organization. Without much land or natural resources, the government instead focused on investing in education, especially in the STEM subjects and vocational training, and creating an export-oriented economy that would obtain wealth through industrialization.

But Singapore had -- and still has -- a small population, presenting the problem of manpower. So the government turned to foreign labor, and has been doing so ever since. Of the city's 5.7 million residents today, nearly a quarter are foreign workers, according to government figures.

The ambitious plan to develop Singapore worked -- at least, for Singaporeans. The cheap foreign labor fueled growth, raising Singapore's average income to $56,786 by 2019 and making it one of the wealthiest places in the world in GDP per capita.

But critics say that foreign workers have been sidelined, left mostly living in tougher conditions with fewer benefits or protections than their Singaporean neighbors -- meaning when a crisis like Covid-19 arrives, they are the first and hardest hit.

The dormitories were a 'time bomb'

Singapore started seeing its cases spike around April 4, with 75 new cases -- its biggest single-day jump at the time.

Authorities traced clusters back to the dormitories, which were built specifically for migrant workers and subject to government regulations. About 200,000 workers live in 43 dormitories in Singapore, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.

Conditions are usually cramped, with about 10 to 20 workers sharing each room. Government regulations require the rooms provide 4.5 square meters (about 48 square feet) per occupant, meaning the rooms typically range from 45 to 90 square meters (484 to 968 square feet).

Videos sent to CNN from one dormitory show workers lying in a line of bunk beds, where they sleep just a few feet away from each other. The workers, the majority of whom are male, and from less economically developed countries, share toilets, shower stalls, laundry clotheslines, storage spaces, and line up together to receive food.

There's simply no way to self-isolate or avoid close contact, which may be why the coronavirus spread so fast and far here.

There's also the fact that authorities seem to have overlooked this risk and didn't alert the migrant worker community until it was too late, said Alex Au, vice president of the Singaporean non-profit organization Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2).

"When the government of Singapore, governments all over the world, issued safe distancing advice, I think they overlooked the fact that safe distancing cannot be possible when construction workers and other blue-collar workers are housed ten men, 20 men, in a room," he said. "The failure, I think, to see clearly the risks and to take measures to mitigate the risks, left us with a very bad situation right now."

As the number of new daily cases spiked, the government locked down dorms, stepped up hygiene measures inside, and closed recreational common spaces, said the Ministry of Manpower. They also tried to space out residents more, and moved some workers into military camps, floating hotels, and vacant government apartments.

In some dorms, workers say the government measures have reassured residents. Zasim, a 27-year-old worker from Bangladesh, said he had been provided with face masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, soap, and fresh fruit by the government. Authorities had also supplied free WiFi and extra phone cards so Zasim and his dorm-mates could spend their days under lockdown talking to friends and family, he said.

Like Rubel, Zasim's main concern was the shutdown's financial impact -- but he feels less worried now that the government has said migrant workers should get paid, even if they can't work, and subsidized employers to make that possible.

Rubel, too, said his living spaces are now clean and the workers are provided with food -- but the mood at his dorm remains tense. Even with the additional protective measures, people are still sharing close quarters, and workers worry they may be living among asymptomatic carriers.

"It's extremely stressful for anybody to be confined in these conditions," said Desiree Leong, the casework executive at the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics in Singapore. "You're being kept in there all day, or most of the day. It's causing a lot of anxiety and stress, a lot of tension."

Tommy Koh, a Singapore lawyer and former diplomat, was more blunt in a widely-shared Facebook post earlier this month.

"The dormitories were like a time bomb waiting to explode," he wrote. "The way Singapore treats its foreign workers is not First World but Third World. The government has allowed their employers to transport them in flat bed trucks with no seats. They stay in overcrowded dormitories and are packed likes sardines with 12 persons to a room."

Calls for reform

The crisis unfolding in the dormitories has led activists to call for broader reforms on living and working conditions for migrant workers beyond the coronavirus pandemic.

Working in a city without a minimum wage, they earn a fraction of the salaries of white-collar employees. The average migrant worker earns about $400 to $465 a month, compared to the average Singaporean monthly salary of $3,077, according to data from TWC2.

Some employers also don't provide medical care or paid sick leave to migrant workers -- the consequences of which became clear during the pandemic. Even as late as March, some employers discouraged their migrant workers from going to the doctor when they felt unwell, or docked their pay for taking the time off, said Leong.

And workers don't have many avenues to address these issues; their visas are tied to their employers, who can terminate work permits at any time, so filing a complaint against your boss could jeopardize not only your job but your migration status.

"This present crisis actually reflects a far bigger systemic problem of the state being relatively fine or not so concerned about the welfare, the well-being, and the rights of migrants," said Au, the NGO vice president.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower has previously said that it prosecutes employers who willfully refuse to pay workers, and has taken action against dormitory operators who fail to follow regulations. An operating company and its director were prosecuted last year after their dormitories were found to have broken lights and shower taps, and "filthy" living conditions.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, however, some government leaders are acknowledging there is still much work to be done in improving migrant workers' rights and standards of living.

"Should standards in foreign worker dormitories be raised? There's no question in my mind, answer is 'yes'," wrote Minister Teo on Facebook in early April, as the first few dormitories were being locked down.

"I hope the Covid-19 episode demonstrates to the employers and wider public that raising standards at worker dormitories is not only the right thing to do, but also in our own interests," she wrote.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also thanked migrant workers for their contributions to Singapore and their cooperation during the pandemic in a press release on Tuesday.

"To our migrant workers, let me emphasize again: we will care for you, just like we care for Singaporeans," he said. "We will look after your health, your welfare and your livelihood. We will work with your employers to make sure that you get paid, and you can send money home ... This is our duty and responsibility to you, and your families."

CNN's James Griffiths contributed reporting

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2020-04-25 02:04:00Z
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Singapore's migrant workers are suffering the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic - CNN

In recent weeks, the Asian city-state has seen a dramatic spike coronavirus infections, with thousands of new cases linked to clusters in foreign worker dormitories. To control the spread, the government has attempted to isolate the dormitories, test workers and move symptomatic patients into quarantine facilities.

But those measures have left hundreds of thousands of workers trapped in their dormitories, living cheek by jowl in cramped conditions that make social distancing near impossible.

Singapore is home to about 1.4 million migrant workers who come largely from South and Southeast Asia. As housekeepers, domestic helpers, construction workers and manual laborers, these migrants are essential to keeping Singapore functioning -- but are also some of the lowest paid and most vulnerable people in the city.

Rubel, who goes only by one name, came to Singapore from Bangladesh six years ago to work in construction and earn money for his family. Now, with his health and safety at risk, he's worried for those who depend on him.

"I'm scared of this coronavirus, because if I catch it I cannot take care of my family," he said.

In the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore was praised for its response and apparent ability to suppress infections without resorting to extreme measures.

Then, in April, the number of cases exploded. Since March 17, Singapore's total cases grew from 266 to 12,075, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Even as the number of new cases surged past 1,000 a day, only a dozen or so per day were Singapore citizens of permanent residents; the rest were all migrant workers.

Singapore was built by migrants

Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is often credited as the visionary who helped transform the city-state into the developed metropolis it is today. But much of Singapore, including iconic sites like the gleaming Marina Bay Sands, was built by imported labor.

Forty years ago, Singapore was less economically developed, with a per-capita income of $4,071 a year, according to the International Labor Organization. Without much land or natural resources, the government instead focused on investing in education, especially in the STEM subjects and vocational training, and creating an export-oriented economy that would obtain wealth through industrialization.

But Singapore had -- and still has -- a small population, presenting the problem of manpower. So the government turned to foreign labor, and has been doing so ever since. Of the city's 5.7 million residents today, nearly a quarter are foreign workers, according to government figures.

The ambitious plan to develop Singapore worked -- at least, for Singaporeans. The cheap foreign labor fueled growth, raising Singapore's average income to $56,786 by 2019 and making it one of the wealthiest places in the world in GDP per capita.

But critics say that foreign workers have been sidelined, left mostly living in tougher conditions with fewer benefits or protections than their Singaporean neighbors -- meaning when a crisis like Covid-19 arrives, they are the first and hardest hit.

The dormitories were a 'time bomb'

Singapore started seeing its cases spike around April 4, with 75 new cases -- its biggest single-day jump at the time.

Authorities traced clusters back to the dormitories, which were built specifically for migrant workers and subject to government regulations. About 200,000 workers live in 43 dormitories in Singapore, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.

Conditions are usually cramped, with about 10 to 20 workers sharing each room. Government regulations require the rooms provide 4.5 square meters (about 48 square feet) per occupant, meaning the rooms typically range from 45 to 90 square meters (484 to 968 square feet).

Videos sent to CNN from one dormitory show workers lying in a line of bunk beds, where they sleep just a few feet away from each other. The workers, the majority of whom are male, and from less economically developed countries, share toilets, shower stalls, laundry clotheslines, storage spaces, and line up together to receive food.

There's simply no way to self-isolate or avoid close contact, which may be why the coronavirus spread so fast and far here.

There's also the fact that authorities seem to have overlooked this risk and didn't alert the migrant worker community until it was too late, said Alex Au, vice president of the Singaporean non-profit organization Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2).

"When the government of Singapore, governments all over the world, issued safe distancing advice, I think they overlooked the fact that safe distancing cannot be possible when construction workers and other blue-collar workers are housed ten men, 20 men, in a room," he said. "The failure, I think, to see clearly the risks and to take measures to mitigate the risks, left us with a very bad situation right now."

As the number of new daily cases spiked, the government locked down dorms, stepped up hygiene measures inside, and closed recreational common spaces, said the Ministry of Manpower. They also tried to space out residents more, and moved some workers into military camps, floating hotels, and vacant government apartments.

In some dorms, workers say the government measures have reassured residents. Zasim, a 27-year-old worker from Bangladesh, said he had been provided with face masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, soap, and fresh fruit by the government. Authorities had also supplied free WiFi and extra phone cards so Zasim and his dorm-mates could spend their days under lockdown talking to friends and family, he said.

Like Rubel, Zasim's main concern was the shutdown's financial impact -- but he feels less worried now that the government has said migrant workers should get paid, even if they can't work, and subsidized employers to make that possible.

Rubel, too, said his living spaces are now clean and the workers are provided with food -- but the mood at his dorm remains tense. Even with the additional protective measures, people are still sharing close quarters, and workers worry they may be living among asymptomatic carriers.

"It's extremely stressful for anybody to be confined in these conditions," said Desiree Leong, the casework executive at the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics in Singapore. "You're being kept in there all day, or most of the day. It's causing a lot of anxiety and stress, a lot of tension."

Tommy Koh, a Singapore lawyer and former diplomat, was more blunt in a widely-shared Facebook post earlier this month.

"The dormitories were like a time bomb waiting to explode," he wrote. "The way Singapore treats its foreign workers is not First World but Third World. The government has allowed their employers to transport them in flat bed trucks with no seats. They stay in overcrowded dormitories and are packed likes sardines with 12 persons to a room."

Calls for reform

The crisis unfolding in the dormitories has led activists to call for broader reforms on living and working conditions for migrant workers beyond the coronavirus pandemic.

Working in a city without a minimum wage, they earn a fraction of the salaries of white-collar employees. The average migrant worker earns about $400 to $465 a month, compared to the average Singaporean monthly salary of $3,077, according to data from TWC2.

Some employers also don't provide medical care or paid sick leave to migrant workers -- the consequences of which became clear during the pandemic. Even as late as March, some employers discouraged their migrant workers from going to the doctor when they felt unwell, or docked their pay for taking the time off, said Leong.

And workers don't have many avenues to address these issues; their visas are tied to their employers, who can terminate work permits at any time, so filing a complaint against your boss could jeopardize not only your job but your migration status.

"This present crisis actually reflects a far bigger systemic problem of the state being relatively fine or not so concerned about the welfare, the well-being, and the rights of migrants," said Au, the NGO vice president.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower has previously said that it prosecutes employers who willfully refuse to pay workers, and has taken action against dormitory operators who fail to follow regulations. An operating company and its director were prosecuted last year after their dormitories were found to have broken lights and shower taps, and "filthy" living conditions.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, however, some government leaders are acknowledging there is still much work to be done in improving migrant workers' rights and standards of living.

"Should standards in foreign worker dormitories be raised? There's no question in my mind, answer is 'yes'," wrote Minister Teo on Facebook in early April, as the first few dormitories were being locked down.

"I hope the Covid-19 episode demonstrates to the employers and wider public that raising standards at worker dormitories is not only the right thing to do, but also in our own interests," she wrote.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also thanked migrant workers for their contributions to Singapore and their cooperation during the pandemic in a press release on Tuesday.

"To our migrant workers, let me emphasize again: we will care for you, just like we care for Singaporeans," he said. "We will look after your health, your welfare and your livelihood. We will work with your employers to make sure that you get paid, and you can send money home ... This is our duty and responsibility to you, and your families."

CNN's James Griffiths contributed reporting

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2020-04-25 00:24:52Z
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Trump says his remarks on using disinfectant in people's bodies were sarcastic - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US President Donald Trump said on Friday (April 24) that he was being sarcastic when he raised the possibility of using disinfectant inside people's bodies to fight the coronavirus.

Trump said at a Thursday news briefing that scientists should explore whether inserting light or disinfectant into the bodies of coronavirus patients might help treat the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

At an Oval Office event on Friday, Trump sought to walk back those comments while also seeming to continue to advance his theory that disinfectants and sunlight might ultimately help within the body.

"I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen," he told journalists on Friday.

His remarks on Thursday, directed at doctors in the room on his coronavirus task force, did not come across as sarcasm.

Pressed repeatedly about the issue on Friday, Trump said he was not encouraging people to ingest disinfectant.

Health professionals have been encouraging people for some time to wash their hands thoroughly with soap or to use hand sanitiser to help stop the spread of the virus.

"I do think that disinfectant on the hands could have a very good effect," he said. "Sun and heat, and humidity wipe it out. And this is from tests - they've been doing these tests for ... a number of months. And the result - so then I said, 'Well, how do we do it inside the body or even outside the body with the hands and disinfectant I think would work.'"

Trump's initial comments about the issue raised concerns that anxious people might poison themselves to try to fight the virus, prompting an international chorus of doctors and health experts to urge people not to drink or inject disinfectant.

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2020-04-24 19:03:08Z
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Muslims mark Ramadan with unprecedented coronavirus lockdowns, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

JAKARTA (AFP, REUTERS) - Mosques stood empty and fast-breaking feasts were cancelled as Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan under coronavirus lockdown on Friday (April 24), while a pushback in some countries sparked fears of a surge in infections.

In a rare occurrence in Islam’s 1,400 year history, Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina – the religion’s two holiest locations – will be closed to the public during the fasting period amid unprecedented bans on family gatherings and mass prayers. 

A stunning emptiness enveloped the sacred Kaaba – a large cube-shaped structure in the Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray – in the most potent sign of how the daytime fasting month will be a sombre affair across Islamic nations.

Prayers from inside the mosque on the first evening of Ramadan on Thursday were restricted to clerics, security staff and cleaners. The ceremony was broadcast live on television.

At a near-empty Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an imam called out the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, his voice echoing across a windswept plateau almost devoid of worshippers.

A handful of Muslim clerics in face masks knelt below the pulpit, keeping several feet apart in compliance with coronavirus restrictions. “We ask God to have mercy on us and all of humanity and to save us from this lethal pandemic,” the imam said.

Ramadan is typically a period of both worship and socialising, but this year strict lockdowns limit socialising during iftar meals at dusk when the fast is broken – a centrepiece of Ramadan. 

The restrictions have put a damper on spirits in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim majority nation, where national religious organisations have called on the faithful to stay at home.

On the island of Java, Mr Tatan Agustustani, 52, and his family were busy clearing furniture from their lounge room to make way for prayer mats. “For me, no matter where we are, prayers must go on, even though we cannot pray in the mosque,” said Mr Agustustani.

Similar sentiments echoed across the Middle East and North Africa, where multiple towns and cities are under round-the-clock curfew.

Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria have partially eased the lockdown but Morocco has announced a night-time curfew for Ramadan as it steps up emergency measures to combat the virus.

The North African nation’s Council of Oulemas, the official religious body, called for confinement to be respected during Ramadan, saying Islamic Syariah law put saving lives above all else – even meeting for prayers. 

Leaders of India’s 160 million Muslims have urged people to heed the nationwide lockdown throughout the month. The All India Islamic Centre of religious teaching will livestream recitation of two chapters of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, from 8pm to 10pm each day.

However, some religious leaders in Asia – home to nearly a billion of the world’s Muslims – have shrugged off fears about the spread of Covid-19.

In Bangladesh, the fundamentalist Hefazat-e-Islam group criticised government moves to restrict access to more than 300,000 nationwide mosques.

“Quotas on prayer attendance are against Islam,” Mojibur Rahman Hamidi, a Hefazat official, told AFP. 

 “A healthy Muslim must join prayers in a mosque. We hope that, if we pray hard, Allah will save us from the coronavirus,” he added. 

‘We must accept it’

In the Syariah-ruled province of Aceh, as worshippers crowded into a mosque for tarawih prayers on the eve of Ramadan. “In our belief, it is God who decides when we will die,” said devotee Taufik Kelana. “But we will stay alert, like wearing a mask.” 

And Pakistan has seen its mosques crammed in the lead up to Ramadan with the faithful sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and paying little heed to social distancing.

Regional Covid-19 death tolls have been lower than in Europe and the United States but are rising steadily, sparking fears the virus may overwhelm often underfunded healthcare systems.

And the World Health Organisation has called for a stop to some Ramadan activities to limit exposure.

Mr Mohamad Shukri Mohamad, the top Islamic cleric in the conservative Malaysian state of Kelantan, planned to skip public prayers and family meals - even if it meant not seeing his six children and 18 grandchildren.

"This is the first time in my life that I've been unable to go the mosque," he told AFP.

"But we must accept it and obey the rules of social distancing to protect our lives."

Muslim-majority Malaysia has extended a strict lockdown until mid-May with mosques, schools and most businesses closed - and police checkpoints set up to catch rulebreakers.

Even popular Ramadan bazaars, where Muslims buy local delicacies before breaking their fast, have been banned.

Instead, Malaysians can only order from so-called "e-bazaars", where people order goods online and have them delivered to their homes.

‘SINFUL'

In neighbouring Indonesia, Amalia Nur Istigfarin considered skipping Ramadan’s daytime fast over fears it could weaken her immune system.

“But it would be sinful to miss it because fasting is mandatory,” the bank employee said.

“So I’ll try other things to boost my immune system like exercise and taking vitamin C,” she added. 

Fears of a spike in coronavirus cases when millions travel to hometowns and ancestral villages at the end of Ramadan has forced Indonesia – a country of some 270 million – to issue a ban on the annual exodus. 

The government has also announced a clampdown on all air and sea travel across the 17,000-island archipelago. 

Jakarta resident Erik Febrian said he was relying on a computer to allow him to keep in touch with his out-of-town parents until he can see them in person at the end of Ramadan. 

“Thanks to technology I can video-call my parents every day during Ramadan,” he said. “And keep an eye on their health.”

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2020-04-24 14:05:27Z
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Trump's comments on injecting disinfectant to treat COVID-19 'dangerous', doctors say - CNA

LONDON: Doctors and health experts urged people not to drink or inject disinfectant on Friday (Apr 24) after US President Donald Trump suggested scientists should investigate inserting the cleaning agent into the body as a way to cure COVID-19.

"This is one of the most dangerous and idiotic suggestions made so far in how one might actually treat COVID-19," said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain's University of East Anglia. 

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He said injecting disinfectants would be likely to kill anyone who tried it.

"It is hugely irresponsible because, sadly, there are people around the world who might believe this sort of nonsense and try it out for themselves," he told Reuters.

READ: WHO to launch initiative to share COVID-19 drugs, tests and vaccines

Trump said at his daily media briefing on Thursday that scientists should explore whether inserting light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the new coronavirus might help them clear the disease.

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"Is there a way we can do something like that by injection, inside, or almost a cleaning?" he said. "It would be interesting to check that."

While ultraviolet (UV) light is known to kill viruses contained in droplets in the air, doctors say there is no way it could be introduced into the human body to target cells infected with COVID-19.

"Neither sitting in the sun, nor heating will kill a virus replicating in an individual patient's internal organs," said Penny Ward, a professor in pharmaceutical medicine at Kings College London and chair of the Education and Standards Committee of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine.

"Drinking bleach kills. Injecting bleach kills faster. Don’t do either," she added.

READ: Sunlight, heat and humidity weaken coronavirus, US official says

Reckitt Benckiser, which manufacturers household disinfectants Dettol and Lysol, issued a statement also warning people not to ingest or inject its products.

Parastou Donyai, director of pharmacy practice and a professor of social and cognitive pharmacy at the University of Reading, said Trump's comments were shocking and unscientific.

Donyai said people worried about the novel coronavirus should seek help from a qualified doctor or pharmacist, and "not take unfounded and off-the-cuff comments as actual advice".

Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and a former US labour secretary, added on Twitter: "Trump's briefings are actively endangering the public's health. Please don't drink disinfectant."

Reading's Donyai said previous comments by Trump had already been linked to people self-administering medicines or other products in ways that make them poisonous.

"We have already seen people mistakenly poisoning themselves by taking chloroquine when their hopes were raised by unscientific comments," she said.

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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2020-04-24 12:59:08Z
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Muslims mark Ramadan with unprecedented coronavirus lockdowns, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

JAKARTA (AFP, REUTERS) - Mosques stood empty and fast-breaking feasts were cancelled as Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan under coronavirus lockdown on Friday (April 24), while a pushback in some countries sparked fears of a surge in infections.

In a rare occurrence in Islam’s 1,400 year history, Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina – the religion’s two holiest locations – will be closed to the public during the fasting period amid unprecedented bans on family gatherings and mass prayers. 

A stunning emptiness enveloped the sacred Kaaba – a large cube-shaped structure in the Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray – in the most potent sign of how the daytime fasting month will be a sombre affair across Islamic nations.

Prayers from inside the mosque on the first evening of Ramadan on Thursday were restricted to clerics, security staff and cleaners. The ceremony was broadcast live on television.

At a near-empty Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an imam called out the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, his voice echoing across a windswept plateau almost devoid of worshippers.

A handful of Muslim clerics in face masks knelt below the pulpit, keeping several feet apart in compliance with coronavirus restrictions. “We ask God to have mercy on us and all of humanity and to save us from this lethal pandemic,” the imam said.

Ramadan is typically a period of both worship and socialising, but this year strict lockdowns limit socialising during iftar meals at dusk when the fast is broken – a centrepiece of Ramadan. 

The restrictions have put a damper on spirits in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim majority nation, where national religious organisations have called on the faithful to stay at home.

On the island of Java, Mr Tatan Agustustani, 52, and his family were busy clearing furniture from their lounge room to make way for prayer mats. “For me, no matter where we are, prayers must go on, even though we cannot pray in the mosque,” said Mr Agustustani.

Similar sentiments echoed across the Middle East and North Africa, where multiple towns and cities are under round-the-clock curfew.

Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria have partially eased the lockdown but Morocco has announced a night-time curfew for Ramadan as it steps up emergency measures to combat the virus.

The North African nation’s Council of Oulemas, the official religious body, called for confinement to be respected during Ramadan, saying Islamic Syariah law put saving lives above all else – even meeting for prayers. 

Leaders of India’s 160 million Muslims have urged people to heed the nationwide lockdown throughout the month. The All India Islamic Centre of religious teaching will livestream recitation of two chapters of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, from 8pm to 10pm each day.

However, some religious leaders in Asia – home to nearly a billion of the world’s Muslims – have shrugged off fears about the spread of Covid-19.

In Bangladesh, the fundamentalist Hefazat-e-Islam group criticised government moves to restrict access to more than 300,000 nationwide mosques.

“Quotas on prayer attendance are against Islam,” Mojibur Rahman Hamidi, a Hefazat official, told AFP. 

 “A healthy Muslim must join prayers in a mosque. We hope that, if we pray hard, Allah will save us from the coronavirus,” he added. 

‘We must accept it’

In the Syariah-ruled province of Aceh, as worshippers crowded into a mosque for tarawih prayers on the eve of Ramadan. “In our belief, it is God who decides when we will die,” said devotee Taufik Kelana. “But we will stay alert, like wearing a mask.” 

And Pakistan has seen its mosques crammed in the lead up to Ramadan with the faithful sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and paying little heed to social distancing.

Regional Covid-19 death tolls have been lower than in Europe and the United States but are rising steadily, sparking fears the virus may overwhelm often underfunded healthcare systems.

And the World Health Organisation has called for a stop to some Ramadan activities to limit exposure.

Mr Mohamad Shukri Mohamad, the top Islamic cleric in the conservative Malaysian state of Kelantan, planned to skip public prayers and family meals - even if it meant not seeing his six children and 18 grandchildren.

"This is the first time in my life that I've been unable to go the mosque," he told AFP.

"But we must accept it and obey the rules of social distancing to protect our lives."

Muslim-majority Malaysia has extended a strict lockdown until mid-May with mosques, schools and most businesses closed - and police checkpoints set up to catch rulebreakers.

Even popular Ramadan bazaars, where Muslims buy local delicacies before breaking their fast, have been banned.

Instead, Malaysians can only order from so-called "e-bazaars", where people order goods online and have them delivered to their homes.

‘SINFUL'

In neighbouring Indonesia, Amalia Nur Istigfarin considered skipping Ramadan’s daytime fast over fears it could weaken her immune system.

“But it would be sinful to miss it because fasting is mandatory,” the bank employee said.

“So I’ll try other things to boost my immune system like exercise and taking vitamin C,” she added. 

Fears of a spike in coronavirus cases when millions travel to hometowns and ancestral villages at the end of Ramadan has forced Indonesia – a country of some 270 million – to issue a ban on the annual exodus. 

The government has also announced a clampdown on all air and sea travel across the 17,000-island archipelago. 

Jakarta resident Erik Febrian said he was relying on a computer to allow him to keep in touch with his out-of-town parents until he can see them in person at the end of Ramadan. 

“Thanks to technology I can video-call my parents every day during Ramadan,” he said. “And keep an eye on their health.”

Related Stories: 

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2020-04-24 14:02:27Z
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