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Rabu, 13 Mei 2020

China's Wuhan kicks off mass testing campaign for COVID-19 - CNA

BEIJING: Authorities in the Chinese city where COVID-19 emerged launched an ambitious campaign on Wednesday (May 13) to test all of its 11 million residents, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections.

At least two of the city's main districts have delivered notices of the campaign door-to-door and sent out online questionnaires through community workers seeking information about tests people have had, and if they belong to what are deemed high-risk groups, residents said.

READ: Wuhan to test entire population after new COVID-19 cluster: Report

READ: Green or red light: China COVID-19 app is ticket to everywhere

"To better make use of nucleic acid tests as a monitoring tool and in accordance of the state cabinet's requirements to expand testing, we've decided after consideration to conduct testing for all residents," according to a questionnaire sent to residents of the city's Wuchang district, which has a population of about 1.2 million.

Wuhan was placed under a lockdown on Jan 23 and it was only lifted on Apr 8. It reported six new cases over the weekend, the first infections since the curbs were removed.

The planned tests come after Wuhan reported the first cluster of new COVID-19 infections since the city re-opened after a 76-day lockdown on Apr 8, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Hector RETAMAL)

Reuters, citing an internal document to district officials, reported on Monday that the city planned to conduct the campaign of city-wide nucleic acid tests over 10 days.

Residents of two city districts, Wuchang and Hankou, the latter with a population of more than 2.6 million, said they had been told to provide by Wednesday personal details including any history of nucleic acid tests and whether they belonged to any of 12 "key groups", according to four residents and copies of questionnaires seen by Reuters.

The tests would include both nucleic acid and serum anti-body tests, according to a notice issued by Wuchang district.

READ: China says not time to relax COVID-19 measures after local clusters reappear

READ: China's Wuhan reports first COVID-19 cluster since lifting of lockdown

The 12 "key groups" include confirmed and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and their close contacts, people with a fever, school, medical, transport, bank, supermarket and government workers, and people coming back from overseas or who plan to leave Wuhan for work.

Asymptomatic cases, or people who have tested positive but show no clinical symptoms such as a fever, are capable of spreading the virus to others. China does not disclose estimates of the number of such cases.

The Wuchang district said in its notice it aimed to test all residents, but stressed testing for those in the 12 categories "must reach 100 per cent".

FILE PHOTO: People wearing face masks are seen at a main shopping area after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan on Apr 14, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Aly Song)

Wuhan is divided into 13 districts, and covers an area of about 8,500 sq km, almost as big as the New York metropolitan area.

The Wuhan government said on April 23 that the city had 53 laboratories to process tests, and 211 locations where nucleic acid tests can be done.

It was not clear when the tests would be conducted in Wuchang, but some residents of Hankou said testing had started there.

The Wuhan government's public relations office was not immediately available for comment on the campaign.

An official at the city government's "Mayor's Hotline" confirmed the city's plan to test all residents but told Reuters there has been no notice by the city health authority about officially starting the tests.

FILE PHOTO: The Chinese national flag flies at half-mast behind a statue of late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong in Wuhan, Hubei province, as China holds a national mourning for those who died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, Apr 4, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Aly Song)

Different city districts could be conducting tests at their own pace for now, the official said.

Since the Wuhan's lockdown was lifted, the city has conducted an average of 47,000 tests a day and more than 1.5 million tests in total, according to Reuters calculations based on city health authority daily reports.

Of China's total of nearly 83,000 confirmed infections, Wuhan accounted for 50,339 of them. The tally does not include asymptomatic cases.

More than 3,800 people in Wuhan have died from the virus, authorities say, or about 80 per cent of China's fatalities.

It is not clear if Wuhan residents will have to pay for their test or if the local government will cover the cost.

Hubei provincial authorities have gradually brought down testing costs and recently capped prices of nucleic acid and IgM/IgG antibody tests at 180 yuan (US$25) and 50 yuan (US$7), respectively, according to the Changjiang Daily.

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2020-05-13 11:34:36Z
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Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports first locally transmitted cases in weeks, fears new cluster - The Straits Times

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – Hong Kong’s 23-day streak without a case of local coronavirus transmission has come to an end, reflecting the challenge of eradicating a virus that can spread undetected through carriers with no symptoms.

The case of a 66-year-old woman with no recent travel history becoming infected, confirmed by the government in a briefing on Wednesday (May 13), dashes hope that the city had successfully contained the virus after nearly four months of school closures and social distancing measures.

Her five-year-old granddaughter has also been confirmed to be infected, while six other family members have displayed symptoms and are now in isolation in hospital, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the health department’s communicable disease branch.

The woman, who lives in the neighbourhood of Tsuen Wan, first developed a fever last Friday (May 8) and tested positive on Tuesday (May 12), she said.

Officials don’t yet know how she picked up the infection.

The emergence of hidden local transmission chains is a setback to the government’s plan to reopen schools and loosen border restrictions with mainland China as cases dwindle.

After months of social distancing measures, Hong Kong was on verge of reverting to normal life.

Instead, the Asian financial hub now faces a potential resurgence of cases as it’s unclear how many people the woman came into contact with before her infection was identified.

Health officials are testing all residents in the two housing blocks that the woman visited, said Chuang.

Besides the woman and her granddaughter, a third case of a traveller returning from Pakistan was also reported on Wednesday.

“This is the challenge of Covid-19, the fact that so many cases are asymptomatic,” said Nicholas Thomas, an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong. “Even though there have been no cases for nearly three weeks, that doesn’t mean that the virus is not in circulation. This is a problem not just for Hong Kong but for all countries as they seek to move out of lockdown and restart their economies.”

The resurgence of cases will complicate the political debate in Hong Kong on how quickly social distancing measures should be eased.

While Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s administration eased limits on social gatherings to 8 people earlier this month, the rule has come under pressure for being arbitrarily designed to forestall street protests, which in any case have re-emerged.

Separately, Hong Kong’s education chief said on Wednesday that the government wouldn’t push back the reopening of schools, currently slated to restart on May 27, for now.

“If the goal is just to eradicate the virus then Hong Kong should go back into shutdown mode,” said Thomas, who has edited an academic book series titled “Health Security and Governance".

“But it is about the virus against the backdrop of the economic and social needs of the community and for that reason this one case is unlikely to prevent the restarting of Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong’s been lauded for reacting quickly to the epidemic, which kept its outbreak small despite its proximity to mainland China. Many of its moves made as early as January – almost universal mask-wearing and the closure of schools and offices – have since been adopted globally as the pandemic widened.

Malaysian PM delays confidence vote, says coronavirus battle takes priority - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will not face a confidence vote on May 18 as earlier scheduled, the Speaker of Parliament said on Wednesday (May 13) after the government cited the battle against the coronavirus as a priority.

Last week, the Speaker approved a motion seeking a vote of no confidence in Tan Sri Muhyiddin's leadership brought by 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, who had resigned as prime minister in February as his ruling coalition fell apart because of political wrangling.

But Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said in a statement that Mr Muhyiddin later informed him that the government had decided to list only one order of parliamentary business for the day, the opening address by the King, "as the Covid-19 pandemic has not been fully cleared".

The next meeting of Parliament has been set for July 13 to Aug 27, but no date has been given for the confidence vote.

People close to the ruling coalition say they have a majority among the 222 elected Members of Parliament.

An aide to Tun Dr Mahathir said he would not immediately comment on the development. The office of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he would address the matter during a Facebook Live session on Thursday.

Mr Muhyiddin, a former colleague of both Dr Mahathir and Datuk Seri Anwar, was unexpectedly sworn in on March 1 as the head of a government formed with the support of a corruption-ridden party that was defeated by a multi-ethnic coalition in the last general election in 2018.

Malaysia has so far reported 6,779 coronavirus patients, with 111 dead.

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2020-05-13 10:19:01Z
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Malaysia's parliament sitting on May 18 will only feature royal address: Speaker - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's parliament sitting on May 18 will only convene for a speech by the Malaysian king, speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff said on Wednesday (May 13).

This could mean that Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposed vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will not see the light of the day in this sitting.

In a media statement, Mr Mohamad Ariff said he received a letter from Mr Muhyiddin, the leader of the House, informing him that the government has made the decision to change the meeting agenda since the spread of COVID-19 has not abated fully.

The speaker outlined that the speech by King Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is scheduled for 10am and there will be no meeting after the speech.

"This amendment is in line with the Parliament's Standing Orders 11(2) and 15(2)," Mr Mohamad Ariff said.

It was reported previously that the one-day sitting would feature a royal address, followed by government motions and bills.

Last Friday, the speaker announced that he had accepted Dr Mahathir’s motion for a vote of no-confidence against Mr Muhyiddin, which stated that the latter does not have the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament.

However, it was not spelt out in the Friday statement whether the motion would be debated in the upcoming one-day sitting on May 18.

This will be the current government's first parliament sitting since Mr Muhyiddin replaced Dr Mahathir as the prime minister on Mar 1, following a week of power struggle in Putrajaya.

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2020-05-13 08:57:36Z
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Leaked recording of 'Muhyiddin entrusting Dr Mahathir' to decide on Bersatu exit from Pakatan - AsiaOne

PETALING JAYA - As the infighting within Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) continues, a leaked audio recording allegedly depicting the party's final supreme council meeting before it quit Pakatan Harapan has made its rounds on social media.

In the one-minute audio recording, a voice that sounds like party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin can be heard saying that chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was entrusted with the mandate to pull Bersatu out of Pakatan.

"We hope Dr Mahathir will conduct a Cabinet reshuffle before Parliament reconvenes ... settle everything within this week. Maybe we can also wait until Dr Mahathir meets with party leaders.

"Okay, we wait for one week. ... It is a bit emotional today and we are deliberating about the most important issue in history, which is out of Pakatan, but we will still be the government. Government led by Bersatu, that is important.

"So if it's appropriate, we want to end our meeting today and after that, we will give the mandate to Dr Mahathir? Agree?" the man said, to which meeting participants responded with "setuju (agree)".

The male voice was also heard saying that Dr Mahathir's decision should not be disputed, given his "wisdom".

"We have never doubted the wisdom of Dr Mahathir, there must be some wisdom. He has been prime minister for so long, we have to respect him.

"So, we have to do whatever he says. If that's the case, we can end the meeting. Our decision is to respect Dr Mahathir's opinion, we understand what he means but give a bit of time," he said.

According to sources, it was understood that the meeting took place on Feb 23, prior to another meeting at the Sheraton Hotel later that night, attended by Barisan Nasional MPs and defecting former Pakatan MPs aligned with Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

It was also understood that leaders present at the meeting were particularly emotional and disgruntled over a meeting on the night of Feb 21, where Pakatan leaders had pressured Dr Mahathir to fix a transition date for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take over as premier and Bersatu threatened to pull out from the coalition.

This appeared to corroborate with an excerpt in the beginning of the audio recording, where the man who sounded like Muhyiddin was heard saying: "We want to find a reason ... and that move could be a trigger".

What is now labelled the "Sheraton Move" triggered a week-long political impasse that saw the collapse of the Pakatan government, which was replaced by the Perikatan Nasional coalition (Barisan, PAS, Gabungan Parti Sarawak) led by Muhyiddin as prime minister.

Dr Mahathir recently said that he was forced to resign as premier and Bersatu chairman as the party had decided to quit Pakatan and co-operate with Barisan.

His remarks were disputed by Bersatu information chief Radzi Jidin, who said that Dr Mahathir had agreed with Bersatu's decision to leave Pakatan but decided to change his stand at the last minute.

However, Dr Mahathir's son and Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, who said his father had never agreed with Bersatu's decision to leave Pakatan.

Bersatu is presently split between the factions of Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin, where the former intends to return to Pakatan while the latter wants to remain in the Perikatan pact.

The May 18 Parliament sitting, the first held since Pakatan lost federal power, is highly anticipated after a motion of no confidence against Muhyiddin was submitted.

The open fire between Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin appeared to have intensified in recent days, after the nonagenarian's faction had openly attacked Muhyiddin, resulting in Mukhriz's second exit as Kedah mentri besar.

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2020-05-13 08:47:52Z
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Coronavirus: US pilot sentenced to 4 weeks' jail for breaching stay order to go to Chinatown Point - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - An American commercial pilot who breached a stay order in early April was sentenced to four weeks' jail on Wednesday (May 13).

Brian Dugan Yeargan, 44, who pleaded guilty to an offence under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 - Stay Orders) Regulations 2020, arrived in Singapore from Australia on April 3.

He was then issued with a 30-day short-term visit pass.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) had said in an earlier statement that Yeargan was also served with a stay order and was not allowed to go out in public until April 17.

Ignoring the stay order, he left his room at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel around 11.15am on April 5.

An ICA employee and officers from the home visit team conducted a check about 15 minutes later and found that Yeargan was not there.

Deputy Public Prosecutor V Jesudevan told Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun that Yeargan walked for about 15 minutes to Changi Airport MRT station before taking a train to City Hall station.

The DPP added: “When he alighted at City Hall station, he estimated that there were about 1,000 people in the station. After alighting, the accused walked for about 30 minutes to get to Chinatown Point.”

After that, he bought a thermometer and a few boxes of face masks at four stores in the shopping mall.

Yeargan was walking to a nearby MRT station to take a train back to the hotel at around 1.40pm, when he received a call from his employer, delivery services company FedEx.

He was told that he has not supposed to leave his room and he had to return to the hotel immediately.

The court heard that Yeargan then took a taxi and reached the hotel at around 2.15pm.

On Wednesday, DPP Jesudevan urged the court to sentence him to at least six to eight weeks’ jail.

The DPP said that Yeargan’s purpose to head out to buy the items was “unreasonable” and added: “These items could have been sourced either after this (stay order) had expired or at the airport, closer to the hotel, or through other means including seeking the assistance of a local FedEx representative.”

Defence lawyer Ronnie Tan told Judge Ong that his client had been worried about the well-being of his wife back home. The lawyer also said that Yeargan had made an “error of judgement”.

Offenders convicted of the offence can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.

Leaked audio of Muhyiddin allegedly entrusting Mahathir to decide on Bersatu exit from Pakatan Harapan spreads on social media - The Straits Times

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - As the infighting within Malaysia's Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) continues, a leaked audio recording allegedly of the party's final supreme council meeting before it quit the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition has made its rounds on social media.

In the one-minute audio recording, a voice that sounds like that of party president Muhyiddin Yassin can be heard saying that chairman Mahathir Mohamad was entrusted with the mandate to pull Bersatu out of PH.

"We hope Dr Mahathir will conduct a Cabinet reshuffle before Parliament reconvenes... settle everything within this week. Maybe we can also wait until Dr Mahathir meets with party leaders.

"So if it's appropriate, we want to end our meeting today and after that, we will give the mandate to Dr Mahathir? Agree?" the man said, to which meeting participants responded with "setuju (agree)".

The male voice is also heard saying that Tun Dr Mahathir's decision should not be disputed, given his "wisdom".

"We have never doubted the wisdom of Dr Mahathir, there must be some wisdom. He has been prime minister for so long, we have to respect him.

"So, we have to do whatever he says. If that's the case, we can end the meeting. Our decision is to respect Dr Mahathir's opinion, we understand what he means but give a bit of time," he says.

According to sources, the meeting took place on Feb 23, before another meeting at the Sheraton Hotel later that night, attended by Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs and defecting former PH Members of Parliament aligned with former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali.

It is also understood that leaders present at the meeting were particularly emotional and disgruntled over a meeting on the night of Feb 21, where PH leaders had pressured Dr Mahathir to fix a transition date for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to take over as premier and Bersatu threatened to pull out from the coalition.

This appeared to corroborate with an excerpt in the beginning of the audio recording, where the man who sounds like Tan Sri Muhyiddin is heard saying: "We want to find a reason ... and that move could be a trigger".

What is now labelled the "Sheraton Move" triggered a week-long political impasse that saw the collapse of the PH government, which was replaced by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition led by Mr Muhyiddin as prime minister.

Dr Mahathir recently said that he was forced to resign as premier and Bersatu chairman as the party had decided to quit PH and cooperate with BN.

His remarks were disputed by Bersatu information chief Radzi Jidin, who said that Dr Mahathir had agreed with Bersatu's decision to leave PH but decided to change his stand at the last minute.

However, Dr Mahathir's son and Bersatu deputy president, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, said his father had never agreed with Bersatu's decision to leave PH.

Bersatu is now split between the factions of Dr Mahathir and Mr Muhyiddin, with the former intending to return to PH and the latter wanting to remain in the Perikatan pact.

The May 18 Parliament sitting, the first held since PH lost federal power, is highly anticipated after a motion of no confidence against Mr Muhyiddin was submitted.

The open fire between Dr Mahathir and Mr Muhyiddin appeared to have intensified in recent days after the nonagenarian's faction openly attacked Mr Muhyiddin, resulting in Mr Mukhriz's second exit as Kedah menteri besar.

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2020-05-13 06:34:13Z
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Cinmpring kici

Rabu, 13 Mei 2020

China's Wuhan kicks off mass testing campaign for COVID-19 - CNA

READ: Wuhan to test entire population after new COVID-19 cluster: Report

READ: Green or red light: China COVID-19 app is ticket to everywhere

READ: China says not time to relax COVID-19 measures after local clusters reappear

READ: China's Wuhan reports first COVID-19 cluster since lifting of lockdown

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

Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports first locally transmitted cases in weeks, fears new cluster - The Straits Times

Related Stories:

Malaysian PM delays confidence vote, says coronavirus battle takes priority - The Straits Times

Malaysia's parliament sitting on May 18 will only feature royal address: Speaker - CNA

Leaked recording of 'Muhyiddin entrusting Dr Mahathir' to decide on Bersatu exit from Pakatan - AsiaOne

Coronavirus: US pilot sentenced to 4 weeks' jail for breaching stay order to go to Chinatown Point - The Straits Times

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Leaked audio of Muhyiddin allegedly entrusting Mahathir to decide on Bersatu exit from Pakatan Harapan spreads on social media - The Straits Times